According to Federal Statistical Office figure, German steel production dropped by half in the year to March 2009, the sharpest decline since the country's reunification nearly 2 decades ago.

Federal Statistical Office said that the country's steelmakers produced 1.28 million tonnes of pig iron and 2.1 million tonnes of raw steel last month. Those figures were 50.3% YoY and 49.8% YoY. It added that it was the sharpest YoY decline since German reunification.

In February 2009, steel production was down by about a third from a year earlier.

It may be noted that Germany went into recession in last year's third quarter as the global crisis eroded global demand for its products.

(Sourced from www.ap.org)