European Steel Association EUROFER announced that all downside factors that have materialized in the first half of last year have persisted, continuing to impact the European steel market and apparent steel consumption is forecast to see a deeper than expected drop of 4.6% for 2022, previously set at minus 3.5%. EUROFER said “The outlook for 2023 also remains negative at 1.6%, paving the way for the fourth steel demand recession in five years. A modest recovery will be in sight in 2024 at 1.6%, though subject to high uncertainty. Despite a more general resilience of the EU economy, in the third quarter of 2022 apparent steel consumption reached its lowest level after the pandemic.”EUROFER Director General Mr Axel Eggert said “We are witnessing what we have been warning against in the past months: energy crisis, inflation, supply chain issues, unparalleled decarbonization costs combined with massive cheap imports from third countries, are a toxic cocktail for industry. The health of the steel sector is the litmus test for the whole EU industry. This should ring the alarm bell for the development prospects of Europe’s clean tech economy: for it to be successful, its foundations must lay on and boost EU green steel demand. The US has already addressed this, as the Inflation Reduction Act clearly shows.”In the third quarter of 2022, EU’s apparent steel consumption plummeted again by 11.2%, recording the lowest volume of 32.2 million tonnes since the pandemic. In parallel with sluggish demand, domestic deliveries collapsed as well by 10.5% for the third consecutive quarter. So did imports, recording a sharp decrease of minus17.2%reverting for the first time the expansionary trend which was uninterrupted since 2021. A stronger-than-expected resilience of steel-using sectors has allowed for the continuation of a steady growth trend at 4% in the third quarter, started after the pandemic. The good performance of construction, mechanical engineering and transport sectors, especially automotive, experiencing a marked rebound of 20.7%, could offset the negative dynamic of domestic appliances of 0.3%. Steel-using sectors’ growth is expected to come to an end in the fourth quarter of 2022. However, 2022 should still see a general output expansion of 2.1%.
European Steel Association EUROFER announced that all downside factors that have materialized in the first half of last year have persisted, continuing to impact the European steel market and apparent steel consumption is forecast to see a deeper than expected drop of 4.6% for 2022, previously set at minus 3.5%. EUROFER said “The outlook for 2023 also remains negative at 1.6%, paving the way for the fourth steel demand recession in five years. A modest recovery will be in sight in 2024 at 1.6%, though subject to high uncertainty. Despite a more general resilience of the EU economy, in the third quarter of 2022 apparent steel consumption reached its lowest level after the pandemic.”EUROFER Director General Mr Axel Eggert said “We are witnessing what we have been warning against in the past months: energy crisis, inflation, supply chain issues, unparalleled decarbonization costs combined with massive cheap imports from third countries, are a toxic cocktail for industry. The health of the steel sector is the litmus test for the whole EU industry. This should ring the alarm bell for the development prospects of Europe’s clean tech economy: for it to be successful, its foundations must lay on and boost EU green steel demand. The US has already addressed this, as the Inflation Reduction Act clearly shows.”In the third quarter of 2022, EU’s apparent steel consumption plummeted again by 11.2%, recording the lowest volume of 32.2 million tonnes since the pandemic. In parallel with sluggish demand, domestic deliveries collapsed as well by 10.5% for the third consecutive quarter. So did imports, recording a sharp decrease of minus17.2%reverting for the first time the expansionary trend which was uninterrupted since 2021. A stronger-than-expected resilience of steel-using sectors has allowed for the continuation of a steady growth trend at 4% in the third quarter, started after the pandemic. The good performance of construction, mechanical engineering and transport sectors, especially automotive, experiencing a marked rebound of 20.7%, could offset the negative dynamic of domestic appliances of 0.3%. Steel-using sectors’ growth is expected to come to an end in the fourth quarter of 2022. However, 2022 should still see a general output expansion of 2.1%.
