High energy prices and subdued demand continue to weigh on crude steel production in Germany. According to current data, around 3.1 million tons of crude steel were produced in January 2024. This corresponds to an increase of around 5 percent compared to the same month last year.
“Despite the slight increase in crude steel production, we cannot speak of a trend reversal. The year 2023 was the weakest in terms of production since the financial crisis and production is still at a very low level,” explains Dr. Martin Theuringer, managing director and chief economist of the Steel Economic Association.
This is particularly clear in electrical steel production, which increased by 9 percent in January, but remains particularly low overall. For comparison: In 2021, in the recovery year after the Corona crisis, production using this process route was 12.1 million tonnes, around 14 percent above the January value of 2024.
“In addition to the production development, what is also worrying is the low market volume, which last year, at around 29 million tonnes, was even below the level of the crisis year 2009. The market has lost 30 percent in volume since 2017,” says Theuringer. This reflects widespread uncertainty among steel users as well as the collapse in equipment and construction investments.