World crude steel output down 0.8 percent in 2024
Global crude steel production in December last year increased by 5.6 percent year on year to 144.5 million mt, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
In 2024, global crude steel production went down by 0.8 year on year to 1.88 billion mt.
In December, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 106.3 million mt, up 9.0 percent, with China’s output at 76.0 million mt, up 11.8 percent, with 6.9 million mt produced by Japan, decreasing by 1.1 percent, 13.6 million mt produced by India, up by 9.5 percent, and 5.2 million mt produced by South Korea, moving down by 3.2 percent – with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-27 countries produced 9.6 million mt of crude steel in December, up by 7.2 percent year on year. In the given period, Germany’s output amounted to 2.7 million mt, up 4.1 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 3.0 million mt of crude steel in December with a 7.6 percent decrease compared to the same month in 2023. The
CIS registered a crude steel output of 6.8 million mt, decreasing by 6.8 percent on year-on-year basis, with Russia’s estimated output at 5.7 million mt, down 8.6 percent year on year.
In North America, in December, crude steel output totaled 8.8 million mt, down by 4.3 percent year on year, with the US producing 6.7 million mt, decreasing by 2.4 percent, both year on year. Crude steel output in South America in December amounted to 3.1 million mt, down by 3.8 percent compared to December 2023, with Brazil’s output totaling 2.6 million mt, rising by 1.8 percent year on year.
In the given month, Africa produced 1.9 million mt of crude steel, falling by 1.0 percent year on year. In the Middle East, crude steel output totaled 4.6 million mt, moving down by 4.5 percent.
BDS: German steel sales slump, stocks hit 3-year low as of Dec 2024
German total steel sales product fell 0.59% year over year in December 2024 to 462,264 mt, and down by 40.64% month over month, data from German steel stockholders’ association BDS showed on Jan. 22.
- Total steel sales in Dec 2024 drop 0.59% YOY to 462,264 mt
- Total steel stocks in Dec 2024 decline 3.96%YOY to 1.78 million mt
Last month, sales of the flat steel product category nearly halved to 281,045, down 40.23% from November and 3.05% from the same period in 2023, respectively.
Long sales also dropped to 136,204 mt, down from 143,297 mt in December 2023 and compared to 238,850 mt in November 2023, the data showed.
Other products stood at 45,015 mt in December 2024, down 40.9% year over year and 35.39% month over month.
The BDS data also showed that steel stocks in Germany went down year year over year and month month over month. Total German steel stocks products totalled 1.78 million mt in December 2024, slipping 3.96% compared to the same month of 2023 and down 1.54% from November 2024 to the lowest level since records started in January 2020.
Flat products decreased by 4.64% to 1.11 million mt in December, year over year, and by 2.77% month over month, respectively.
Long products stocks totaled 638,548 mt in December, down 2.10% year over year but up 0.95% month over month. The rest of the stocks under “Others” stood at 30,762 mt in December, down 6.42% compared to December 2023 and down 1.54% relative to November.
In December hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe moved sideways from Eur560/mt base ex-works Ruhr to Eur 560/mt ex-works Ruhr on Dec. 30, with prices that moved down by around Eur130/mt in 2024. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur580/mt ex-works Ruhr Jan.21, stable day over day
European HRC prices increase on continuing bullish sentiment at producers
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €586.25 ($610.27) per tonne on Friday, up by €5.00 per tonne from €581.25 per tonne on Thursday January 23.
The index was up by €12.50 per tonne week on week and by €21.25 per tonne month on month.
“Prices [in the region] are increasing. Mills are sold out for the first quarter of the year and only small volumes could be booked at €580-590 per tonne ex-works,” a distributor source based in Germany told Fastmarkets.
Mills in Northern Europe were heard offering HRC for the second quarter of the year at €620-630 per tonne ex-works or delivered, depending on the mill. In some cases, the material was offered even at €640-650 per tonne, industry sources told Fastmarkets.
Some small volumes were traded on Friday at €590 per tonne ex-works, Fastmarkets understands.
Buyers’ estimations for the workable market level were mainly at €580-590 per tonne ex-works.
At the same time, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €580 per tonne on Friday, up by €2.50 per tonne from €577.50 per tonne on Thursday.
The index was up by €10.00 per tonne week on week and by €17.50 per tonne month on month.
The latest HRC offers heard in the Italian market were at €610-620 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €600-610 per tonne ex-works, Fastmarkets understands.
But no major deals were heard in the market.
Fastmarkets’ sources estimated the workable market level at €570-590 per tonne ex-works.
Italy’s industry seeks help with high energy prices
The Italian association Confindustria — which represents manufacturing and service companies in the nation, including steel producers — distributed an appeal to the parliament and the government on Thursday, asking for support with high energy prices.
The association said that the high energy costs were making the domestic industry system more unsustainable, and local companies were at risk for collapse.
According to the association, the current energy prices in Italy were 38% higher than those in Germany and 72% higher compared with those in Spain.
The association referred specifically to the high costs of energy produced from renewable sources and energy produced from natural gas. According to the association, legislative amendments were necessary to provide an allocation of energy from renewable sources but decoupled from the total price of the energy mix in Italy.
According to data from Gestore dei Mercati Energetici (GME), a state-owned company managing the electricity and natural gas markets in Italy, the electricity price in Italy’s energy exchange reached €177.94 per MWh on January 24, 2025, compared with €128 per MWh on the same day a year earlier.
Eurofer: CBAM should be launched without delay, but with some improvements
The reaction of the association comes after the largest European political party, the European People’s Party (EPP), suggested putting CBAM on hold for at least two years. But such a move could additionally harm the competitiveness of the European steel industry, according to Eurofer.
The EU’s CBAM is considered to be a major decarbonization driver. It is a tool intended by the EU to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon-intensive goods that enter the trading bloc.
“European steelmakers have been subject to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) since its inception in 2005, thus being exposed to a unilateral carbon price that has recently reached around € 75 per tonne CO2,” the European steel association said, adding that, as a result, the EU’s trade partners from third countries are in a more favorable position.
According to industry sources, the price of carbon emission allowances in Europe has been increasing gradually, reaching €80.27 per tonne on Tuesday compared to around €63.65 per tonne on the same day last year.
“More than 25 million tonnes of steel, around 20% of EU production, are imported annually from third countries without any carbon cost,” Eurofer said.
According to the association, the timely implementation of CBAM was an important step to prevent carbon leakage and support the European steel industry in its efforts toward decarbonization.
Eurofer added that CBAM was an “unprecedented” and “first-of-its kind” measure, which could cause significant risks for the steel sector, characterized by numerous products used across many value chains, different production technologies with varying carbon intensities and global trade flows involving many trade partners.
Thus, Eurofer suggested implementing some improvements to CABM during 2025 to provide its effective functioning. Their proposal includes the introduction of a structural solution to preserve European exports, guaranteeing they would remain competitive, implementing stricter rules against circumvention practices such as resource shifting and extending CBAM’s scope to steel-intensive downstream sectors.
According to the association, the stringent default values and the free allocation adjustment should be other elements included in CBAM’s design.
“Without these adjustments, the combination of CBAM and the scheduled phase-out of free allocations will fail to provide adequate protection against carbon leakage and, even further incentivize the relocation of production to third countries, affecting both steel and downstream sectors,” Eurofer said.
Eurofer also proposed that the administrative burden of the affected companies should be minimized by the introduction of simpler procedures. For example, the CBAM reporting obligations should not apply to European products that are exported outside the EU, processed abroad, and subsequently reimported into the EU as CBAM goods.
But effective monitoring should be implemented to prevent such provisions from favoring circumvention practices.
Eurofer also suggested that the current de minimis threshold of €150 should be converted into a weight unit and increased to 1 tonne of the concerned CBAM good to avoid unnecessary reporting for small consignments.
But at the same time, such a simplification should not be done at the expense of CBAM’s effectiveness.
“For instance, a broad exemption for small companies, without linking it to the size of their consignments, would undermine the entire purpose of the mechanism,” Eurofer added.
Outstanding European coil contracts could see higher prices
Northwestern European coil buyers that are still in the process of bargaining for long-term supply contracts with steelmakers might end up with higher prices than agreed-to so far, with the major car brands, for instance.
According to one mill manager, upcoming agreements could see somewhat higher prices than those struck previously, as spot market prices have proceeded climbing slightly since December. The difference will not be massive, as the upward trend proceeds slowly. Mills are still struggling to obtain close to €600/tonne ($630) ex-works for hot-rolled coil, with €620/t called as the new target by at least one mill.
Whilst the spot price is certainly a factor in the negotiations, the main indicator is the prices resulting from the previous year’s talks, the same manager emphasises. Long-term supply relationships involve services and reliability and therefore work differently than the spot market, which is very much influenced by the pricing of imports. As a rule of thumb, contract prices can be €100/t higher than spot prices.
Compared with the contracts signed one year ago, prices accepted so far in January are €60-80/t lower, Kallanish hears from sources at mills, automotive suppliers and service centres. One experienced independent observer expressed doubts though. He says the reductions were greater, closer to the €100/t mark.
“The people I talked to signed at a year-on-year reduction of between €85 and €95,” he says, adding he has not heard of deals at minus-€70 or less.
Other than the parties involved, that source offers a concrete figure for the outcomes, which he says were at €650/t for HRC. And, he says mills aim to reach closer to the €700/t mark in annual contracts that are still outstanding.
Christian Koehl Germany
Italian re-rollers enact price increases on high costs
Italian re-rollers are contemplating a price increase and a reduction in tube discounts, sources tell Kallanish.
One re-roller is enacting a price increase of €50/tonne ($52/t) effective immediately, resulting in a reduction of discount levels to 46 points. The company aims to achieve a discount level of approximately 43-44 points within the first ten days of February.
The increases are deemed critical for margin recovery, amid an unsustainable gap between current prices and costs. Costs for re-rollers continue to increase. Donald Trump’s return is expected to result in the implementation of global safeguards and antidumping measures.
“We expect that the majority of Eurofer requests will receive approval from the European Commission, and an increase in protectionist measures is likely to complicate coils import. Re-rollers with a pricing structure based on global HRC purchases will face significant challenges due to the forthcoming regionalisation of the market and increased coil costs,” a tube maker says.
Another agrees that the safeguard review is highly anticipated, and the unfavourable euro-dollar exchange rate will make it more expensive to import coils. Demand for welded tubes is on an upward trajectory; however, the cost of hot-rolled coil in Europe is projected to approach €610/t base delivered in the near term.
Currently, the tube discount levels in Italy are holding steady month-on-month at 48-49 points. With a 48% discount, a workhorse grade such as the 40x40x3 is priced at approximately €670/t ex-works, resulting in negative margins for some.
To effectively manage costs and secure some profit margins, this grade should be positioned at a price point of €800/t, a target most companies are likely to pursue in February. Should this level remain unattained, various sources indicate that tube capacity reductions could be required before the end of this quarter.
At present, European HRC prices have risen in contracts to an average range of €575-580/t base ex-works. The current market demand appears to be flat; however, there are expectations that buyers may resume purchasing activities in the coming days, primarily due to a lack of viable alternatives from the import market.
A mill source started offering HRC at €620/t delivered in Italy, with expectations to reach this level in the coming days.
Natalia Capra France
Assofermet asks EU not to extend safeguard measures
Italian steel trade association Assofermet is advocating for the European Commission to archive the existing safeguard measures and refrain from extending them beyond 31 December 2025.
This is to avoid any overlap with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which could result in further cost increases for the EU steel processing sector.
In a statement obtained by Kallanish, the association indicates that any modifications to the safeguard system should ensure that the current level of import liberalisation remains intact.
The EC should eliminate the country-specific quotas and replace them with a singular global share for each product category. To optimise the utilisation of quotas, Assofermet also recommends the implementation of a more flexible management system that permits the redistribution of unused quotas between nations at the conclusion of each quarter.
The prospect for extending or intensifying safeguard measures on imports fails to address the structural issues present in the European steel market. The ongoing lack in demand from end-user sectors cannot be resolved by additional import restrictions, the statement argues and adds that it is essential to encourage demand growth through broad economic policies, rather than relying solely on trade defence measures.
The EU steel processing sector has suffered as a result of the present safeguard in place since July 2018. The sector is facing significant challenges due to rising costs, restrictions on duty-free steel imports, and the influx of low-cost finished products from non-EU countries.
Any further safeguard revisions would introduce additional uncertainties into the entire system and supply chain.
In accordance with current EU legislation and World Trade Organisation regulations, Assofermet proposes that the safeguard legislative framework be restored to its original purpose and encourages the EC to prioritise structural solutions that boost demand and competitiveness within the European steel industry.
Last year the EC initiated an investigation to determine whether EU safeguard measures on steel imports need amending to reflect recent market developments, following a request by 13 Member States.
Natalia Capra France
Swiss Steel to withdraw from stock exchange
Swiss Steel Holding has announced its voluntary intention to delist from the SIX Swiss Exchange, Kallanish notes from a statement by the producer.
Given the company’s small free float, Swiss Steel plans to apply for an off-exchange trading opportunity for the company’s shares, it said on Friday.
The group over recent years has undergone significant restructuring and reorganisation efforts, resulting in a shareholder structure characterised by a small number of large, long-term investors. Consequently, the SIX-listed shares have a low free float and limited trading volume, leading to an illiquid market for the company’s shares, the group explains.
The main stakeholders are GravelPoint Holding with 65.75%, PCS Holding with 10.11%; and Liwet Holding with 12.85%.
The supervisory board has determined that the benefits of maintaining a listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange are outweighed by the comparatively high costs and administrative efforts required to sustain it. The voluntary delisting will allow Swiss Steel to allocate resources more effectively toward restructuring and operational improvements, it says.
If the delisting is approved by an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, the board will proceed with the delisting.
Christian Koehl Germany