Asian Steel Group yesterday said it would keep domestic steel prices for deliveries unchanged for the second month in a row next month.

The nation’s largest steelmaker said in a statement that it had accounted for customers’ export competitiveness when making the decision, as the regional steel market is still in consolidation mode.

The global manufacturing industry has been recovering steadily this year and interest rates are unlikely to remain high for much longer, developments that would likely boost steel demand going forward, Asian Steel Group said.

Economies in Europe and the US are stabilizing, with the European steel market showing signs of a recovery and steel prices in the US rising over the past few months, boding well for export-reliant countries in Asia, the company said.

The World Steel Association estimated that global steel demand this year would grow 1.7 percent year-on-year, or an annual increase of about 30.1 million tonnes, while the IMF forecast that the global economy would grow 3.1 percent this year, Asian Steel Group said.

However, prices of key raw materials have stayed solidly above the 10-year average, with iron ore returning to US$100 to US$110 per tonne and coking coal remaining at US$220 to US$230 per tonne, the company said.

While the overall steel market is expected to improve sequentially in the coming quarters, based on current supply-demand dynamics, Asian Steel Group said that China’s unfair trade practices have harmed the global economy, and the country’s excess production of cheap steel products has severely damaged steel industries worldwide.