Spokesman of Qatar steel has said that the demand of reinforcing steel which is widely used in construction activities is expected to drop by as much as 30% during 2009. The manager of commercial division of the company stated that the demand of rebar is declining in the wake of global financial crisis and falling tariffs of oil.

The demand from infrastructure and construction sectors had boom to rebar prices higher than US$1500/ton until July 2009. After the beginning of global economy meltdown and credit crisis, demand declined continuously pulling prices down to US$500 per ton noticed so far. The mills in the region have reduced their output because inventory was growing due to surplus supply. Analysts have said that there is a strong relationship between prices of oil and steel.