Global finished steel demand will increase 7% on-year in 2017 to 1.62 billion tonnes, the World Steel Association forecasts in its latest October short-range outlook. The high growth rate, however, is partly an effect of the shift to official statistics of unrecorded demand previously satisfied by Chinese induction furnaces, which closed down in 2017.

Due to the statistical shift, Chinese demand is forecast by worldsteel to grow 12.4% in 2017 to 765.7 million tonnes. However, disregarding this effect, the underlying growth rate of Chinese steel demand will be 3%, putting the global growth rate in 2017 at 2.8%.

“Confidence and investment sentiments are improving in a large part of the world despite some financial market volatility and growing concern of stock market overvaluation,” worldsteel economics committee chairman TV Narendran said at worldsteel’s 50th anniversary meeting in Brussels on Monday. “Global trade is gaining momentum despite worries about rising protectionism and talks of rearranging existing free trade agreements.”