Metal structures market in 2023-2026: demand at the deficit level

According to expert analysts, manufacturers and industrial builders themselves, the Russian metal structures market will experience a shortage of capacity in the next 3-4 years. This forecast covers the segment of high-quality heavy metal structures for large infrastructure projects. And first of all — the petrochemical and oil refining sector. The factories of specialized metal structures operating today — which, at first glance, are not so few — are already distributing their planned products for years to come.

Not only meetings at the level of the government and relevant ministries are devoted to finding a solution to the upcoming deficit, but also various business events, such as, for example, the specialized international exhibition "Metal Structures'2023", which will be held in June 2023 in Moscow.

At the same time, the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) noted that last year the production of structures and parts of structures made of ferrous metals increased by 3.9% and amounted to 7.7 million tons. At the same time, the main increase in the production of structures occurred in December: 26.5% more was produced than in November, and 11.2% more than in the same previous period.

On the world market, the situation is completely reversed: the World Steel Association (WSA – an association uniting 64 countries) reported that according to the data received by the Association, 140.7 million tons of steel were produced in December last year. This volume is 10.8% less than in the same month of the previous year. The World Steel Association announced this decline as the strongest since April 2020, when global steel smelting and, accordingly, the production of metal structures fell by 13.6% worldwide due to lockdowns compared to a year ago. Average daily production also fell by 2.1%, and this indicator became the lowest since January 2017. The overall annual decline was 4.3%, and the global industry has almost returned to the level of at least April 2020.