Boston, MA -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/31/2013 -- Long-Term Growth In Output

The Netherlands' metals sector is set for sound growth over the coming years as prices for high quality steel remain elevated and encourage production. Steel will continue to dominate the country's metals industry; however, we do not expect any significant new investment over the coming years. Tata Steel, the largest producer in the country is facing up to an increasingly hostile and competitive operating environment with cheap steel and aluminium being exported from China. However, opportunities remain in high-quality steel, which the Netherlands is a key producer.

In 2012, Dutch steel output experienced a strong decline as the year began with much uncertainty still surrounding the eurozone and the sluggish US economic recovery; however, efforts by eurozone leaders to rectify the European debt crisis as the year progressed were taken as reassurance by businesses and investors in 2012, and so steel production in the Netherlands picked up to close the year with a growth rate of -1.0% year-on-year (y-o-y), reaching 6.87mn tonnes (mnt). This follows two years of growth that saw output up 4.0% and 28.5% in 2011 and 2010, respectively. While this figure will have been disappointing after two consecutive years of positive growth, it could have been a lot worse had it not been for the rally in output in the second half of the year. In 2013, steel output is estimated to come in at 6.94mmn tonnes, a growth rate of 1.0% y-o-y from 2012.

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Tata Steel Europe is aiming to reduce costs by 20% in FY2012/13, while at the same time increasing investment. It is spending EUR800mn in increasing liquid steel-making capacity at Ijmuiden by 500,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to 7.7mn tonnes per annum (mntpa) by 2015-16 while reducing jobs by 1,000. This should significantly improve the competitiveness of its Ijmuiden complex. As such, BMI retains an optimistic outlook for the long-term future of the Dutch steel industry with a swift return to pre-2008 levels by 2014. Tata Steel is investing EUR12mn in enhancing production of specialised corrosion resistant steel with a new finishing line for hot dipped galvanised steel. As a result, the Ijmuiden complex will buck the trend of capacity closures seen elsewhere in Europe and will add value to production, reduce costs and increase volume of cold rolled products. The developments at Ijmuiden justify an optimistic outlook for the long-term future of the industry with a swift return to pre-2008 levels of output by 2014.

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