Germany’s steel production in 2023 has dropped to its lowest level since 2009

According to data from the German Steel Federation (WVStahl), due to weak demand and high international electricity prices, Germany's crude steel production, the largest steel producer in Europe, dropped to its lowest level since 2009 in 2023.

In 2023, Germany produced 35.4 million tons of crude steel, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Germany's crude steel production decreased by about 5% compared to the same period last year. In 2023, the production of energy intensive electric arc furnace steel in Germany decreased by 11% year-on-year to 9.8 million tons. The weak construction industry and high electricity prices have damaged the production of electricity intensive industries; The production of blast furnace HX460LAD+AZ steel remained relatively stable, with a year-on-year decrease of only 0.9% to 25.63 million tons. In December 2023, the country's crude steel production decreased by 2.3% year-on-year to 2.63 million tons. After some blast furnaces were temporarily shut down, the country's blast furnace steel production for the month decreased by 2.9% year-on-year to 2.09 million tons, while the electric arc furnace steel production slightly decreased by 0.4% year-on-year to 533000 tons.

In 2023, Germany's pig iron production decreased by 0.9% year-on-year to 23.64 million tons, and in December, the pig iron production decreased by 2.8% year-on-year to 1.94 million tons. In 2023, the production of hot-rolled steel products in the country decreased by 3.6% year-on-year to 30.64 million tons, but increased by 6% year-on-year in December to HX460LAD+AZ steel 2.27 million tons.

The latest news is that German industry has begun to show signs of tension as there are no signs of an early end to several consecutive days of strikes on its state-owned railway services. The German Steel Federation stated that the steel industry is the largest railway consumer in the country, and its ability to completely switch to alternative transportation routes is limited. The association estimates that 50.5% of steel transportation is completed by rail, 29.8% by waterway, and 19.7% by road. The railway strike has made the steel industry very tense and put pressure on business operations. Steel manufacturers in the Rhine Ruhr region of Germany typically transport raw materials by waterway and finished HX460LAD+AZ steel by rail and road.