Italian car output continues to decline
Italian passenger car production declined again in August and in the first eight months of the year, Kallanish notes from automotive association Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica (Anfia) preliminary data.
Car output stood at only 4,500 units in August, down by 27.4% year-on-year. The volumes were lower by 31.6% in the first eight months of 2025, to 157,900 units.
In comparison, the UK recorded a y-o-y decline in August of 10.2% to 31,700 cars and a more moderate 5.9% decline to 492,000 units in January-August. Spain saw an increase by 14.3% to 63,400 cars in August and a decrease of 7.4% in January-August to 1.2 million units.
German production fell in August by 21% to 237,600 cars but still had a cumulative 2% uptick year-to-date to 2.8m units, Anfia says.
The most recent data indicate that French car production in January-June experienced a y-o-y increase of 15% to 543,500 cars.
“The automotive sector is operating within a broader context of declining Italian industrial production in August 2025 compared with the same month last year. The overall industrial production index recorded a 2.7% decrease in August, bringing the cumulative result for the first eight months of the year to -1% compared with the corresponding period in 2024,” Anfia says in a note.
Anfia emphasises the need for regulatory measures in line with market realities. The association urges that the “strategic dialogue on automotive” in Europe address the revision of CO2 emissions rules for light vehicles, advocating a return to technological neutrality, a review of the 2030 and 2035 targets, which are currently considered unattainable.
Italian car output in 2024 declined 42.8% versus 2023 to 309,758 units. The total number of vehicles produced in the country last year, including heavy duty vehicles, amounted to 519,000 units, reflecting a 32.3% decline versus 2023.
Natalia Capra France
Voestalpine continues cutbacks in Europe
Voestalpine is pursuing production cutbacks in Austria and Germany, which include layoffs, since it does not expect the economic situation to improve in the coming months.
At voestalpine Tubulars, capacity adjustments may become necessary at the site in Kindberg, Austria, a decision which will be made by the end of this calendar year. The unit is exposed to considerable burden caused by tariffs in the main sales market of the US, and persistently low oil prices are leading to a noticeable decline in sales volumes, voestalpine explains.
During a video conference on Wednesday attended by Kallanish, chief executive Herbert Eibensteiner underlined the strong dependence of tubular products on the US market, and warned that production in Kindberg will be reduced from three to two shifts.
Also in Austria, voestalpine Böhler Bleche in Mürzzuschlag, a unit of the High Performance Metals division, faces capacity adjustments. The group says it is running a strategy project with the goal of positioning the unit and its processes in a way that enables products to be sold at marketable prices, despite difficult conditions.
In Germany, voestalpine will continue with consolidation at the Automotive Components sites it announced earlier. Eibensteiner noted that the difficulties of that division are not impacting the automotive steel strip made in Linz, which he said keeps performing well.
In the group’s first fiscal half-year – April through September 2025 – revenue declined by 5.6% year-on-year to €7.6 billion ($8.8 billion). Consolidated earnings before taxes increased by 12% to €278 million, while profit after tax rose by 8.6% to €199m.
Christian Koehl Germany
German rebar prices hardly move, some discounting reported
Rebar prices in Germany are not showing any sustained move in either direction this month, largely holding firm at slightly above €600/tonne ($695) delivered on average.
One buyer in Lower Saxony tells Kallanish of a deal done at €575/t from a German mill last week. However, he cautions that mills are about to fill order books enough to bring offer prices back up.
“Mills could be utilised into January, and will return to the €600,” he says. His particular deal was made with the one German mill that still offered a discount of €15-20, which other mills stopped offering earlier. All of them, however, still have discounts for wire mesh.
A northern German manager concedes that some offers have softened, but not by more than €10. He is not surprised about bargain offers as “order volumes are low altogether, and the mills want to make use of their capacities”.
Regarding the prospects for a notable recovery in the market, a southwestern German buyer expresses little optimism in the short run, as construction activity is still far too low. He has no great expectations for the government’s big infrastructure programme announced this year. “For us benders and builders, it will take two years for the measures to take an effect on plans that are sitting in the drawer, and before we feel anything,” he notes.
It is little wonder then that many benders keep making dumping-price offers to get jobs from builders. “And that won’t change much as long as the market is as it is,” he says.
Christian Koehl Germany
HRC prices finally start climbing in US
Pricing for domestically produced hot rolled coil in the US is finally starting to react to the recent mill hike announcements, Kallanish understands.
Spot prices for hot rolled coil have crept upward to a new range of $830-865/short ton, from $825-865/st a week ago. CRC is holding steady at $1,030-1,080/st.
On Monday, Nucor raised its published consumer spot price for HRC for a third consecutive week, by $5/st to a new base of $895/st (see Kallanish 11 November). Other North American producers announcing coil price hikes in recent weeks include NLMK USA, Dofasco and Stelco (see Kallanish passim), whilst major hot roll customer Atlas Tube issued an increase in concert. The announcements were not impactful immediately but are having some influence on the outlook.
“In general the prices have a chance to firm depending on the market,” a Great Lakes distributor comments.
The mills may not be pocketing much of their increases yet, but they have an eye towards the new year, according to other market participants.
“I am hearing from all my reps that the mills will keep pushing prices up so that they can collect big dividends in Q1 when everyone needs to restock,” reports an Ohio Valley distributor.
Nucor still promises lead times of 3-5 weeks. Cleveland-Cliffs, however, is closed for December tons, according to a notice posted in the customer-service section of its website.
A midwestern distributor says there were about a half-dozen mill outages in October and at least nine in the first half of November. At the same time, the mills were telling customers that order books are strengthening.
The Ohio Valley distributor points out that, for year-end tax purposes, some service centres do not wish to stock up before January. That is one reason why the slower production did not force prices upward even though it did temporarily trim availability and move some lead times out.
“The mill outages are mostly over now, and I don’t think it affected the market as much as people think it did,” the Ohio Valley distributor contends. “It did cause a lot of mills to be late with deliveries.”
Momentum is now building in the US coil market, and current order flow is already giving the producers confidence as they peer into the new year, according to a mill source.
“For sure, actual transactions have increased,” the mill source says. “EAFs are not making any money at the levels where prices were and they need to be higher. … Many end users are reporting good demand to start 2026.”
Dom Yanchunas USA