Major Infrastructure Investment in 2017 to Drive "Steel Demand"
Recently, major investment plans for 2017 have been密集 unveiled in some regions, with investment amounts ranging from hundreds of billions to trillions of yuan. Comparing investment plans across regions reveals that whether in economically developed eastern provinces or relatively underdeveloped central and western regions, infrastructure construction, especially transportation projects, occupies an important position. Experts say China's fixed asset investment growth is expected to remain around 8% in 2017, with infrastructure continuing to be the main force for stabilizing investment and growth, with an overall scale estimated at 16 trillion yuan. "Entering 2017, a new round of nationwide investment is about to launch. Infrastructure construction focusing on urban and rural infrastructure and major transportation projects, as well as major projects and pillar industries based on supply-side structural reform, may become the main focus of national fixed asset investment. Infrastructure will continue to be the main force for stabilizing investment and even stabilizing growth, and infrastructure investment growth in 2017 may remain around 20%," noted Chu Xiao, an analyst at Zhuochuang Information. Thanks to the rapid growth of infrastructure investment, demand for finished steel products will be driven in an orderly manner, with demand for construction steel, steel pipes, section steel, and plates significantly increasing. Meanwhile, with the implementation of domestic capacity reduction and environmental protection policies and the improvement of the futures market, the center of steel prices in 2017 is estimated to continue moving upward.
2017-02-27
