Major growth for steel sector in Bangladesh

Asia – Bangladesh is one of Asia’s leading emerging steel markets and has a growing need for raw materials and steelmaking technologies. So says SteelMint Events, which will be hosting the Steel & Raw Material Conference in the country’s metropolitan seaport city of Chittagong on December 11-12.

The conference will incorporate interactive panel discussions addressing various topics, including: the steel industry in Bangladesh; the future of the global shipbreaking sector; new technologies; government policies; and China’s impact on the market. A networking dinner and exhibition will also form part of the programme. Bangladesh had roughly 1 million tonnes of steel capacity in 2014 but this figure is expected to grow to 3 million tonnes this year owing to ‘steady economic growth’, says the event organiser.

Large players such as Abul Khair and BSRM are reported to have already commissioned high-capacity induction and electric arc furnaces which would expand crude steel production significantly. ‘Scrap will be a major raw material for steel smelting units based in Bangladesh – with expected imports to rise from 0.5 million tonnes this year to 2.5 million tonnes in 2016,’ SteelMint Events points out.

As a result, Bangladesh is believed to have the potential to become the second largest scrap importer in East Asia, after India, and the fourth largest importer in Asia as a whole. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that average GDP growth in Bangladesh in the period from 2013 to 2018 will be 6.6% – significantly higher than for many other emerging markets.