Feb. 9, 2010 (China Knowledge) - China's crude steel demand for this year is expected to grow by 8% to 10% year on year to between 610 million and 620 million tons, said Deng Qilin, chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, on Friday. 

Deng, who is also general manager of China's third-largest steelmaker, Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp, revealed during a conference that this year's crude steel demand might be slightly higher than the expected output. He forecast that China's crude steel output this year will increase 6.2% year on year to 600 million tons.

He said that the performance of major macroeconomic indicators, including fixed-asset investment and retail sales, currently remains strong, which will be beneficial to the steel industry.

Deng said he expects that China's fixed-asset investment and retail sales this year will grow 20% and 16% year on year, respectively, while exports will increase by an estimated 8%.