Fitch Ratings: Challenges Ahead for Steel Industry in 2020

Fitch Ratings, a global leader in credit ratings and research, is forecasting a negative outlook for the global steel industry in 2020 and challenging conditions in North America. The Fitch Ratings 2020 Outlook: Global Steel notes weaker economic growth impacted by ongoing trade and geopolitical tensions.

“Over the past two years companies have talked at length of their investment plans to increase capacity and/or debottleneck existing assets,” said Oliver Schuh, lead analyst for Metals & Mining at Fitch Ratings. “With weaker economic conditions in 2019, the supply push from those investments has negatively affected capacity utilization and margins, particularly in Europe. While we expect a moderate recovery in 2020, risks are more skewed towards the downside, linked to geopolitical tensions and political uncertainty in some countries as well as progressive reforms in China coinciding with a managed slowdown of growth ambitions.”