Alongside an end to destocking in some markets, economic stimulus measures successfully translated into improved global sheet consumption through the first three quarters of 2009. Now concluded, global sheet demand in 2009 is estimated at 327m tonnes.
With lingering concerns over the robustness of economic revival, global demand growth recovery faltered in Q4 2009. Though some regions, including the USA and Europe, saw further quarter-on-quarter increases in apparent consumption in this period, China did not.
Global sheet consumption levels remained around 13% below pre-crisis levels in Q4 2009, much more so in developed economies. China is the clear exception: though showing some weakness in the fourth quarter, consumption was still around 120% higher than the average quarterly levels seen in the first half of 2008.