Austria’s steelmakers decreased crude steel production in June compared with the previous month, according to worldsteel data.
Output amounted to 633,000 tonnes, down by 2.6% from May and 0.3% less year-on-year, Kallanish notes. Austria fell from 21st place to 22nd in the ranking of top ten global steel producers, worldsteel data show.
In January-June, however, the country produced 3.81 million tonnes of steel, up 0.7% on-year.
Overall EU output in June increased by 5% y-o-y to 11.08mt. In the first six months of the year, steel production was 0.9% more on-year versus January-June 2023 to 67.2mt.
Austria’s largest steelmaker, voestalpine, said earlier market trends have not changed significantly following the start of its 2024/25 business year in April (see Kallanish passim).
In fiscal 2023/24 – ending March 2024 – voestalpine achieved satisfactory results, with overseas markets performing better than Europe. It said it expects good demand from railway infrastructure, aerospace, and warehouse technology to continue. The automotive industry and the energy sector, as its main segments, should largely continue their stable development to date.
The group’s revenue in 2023/24 was its second-highest in history, at €16.7 billion ($18.2 billion), after achieving record revenue of €18.2 billion in the previous year. Key figures have now “returned to normal” in the latest reporting year, voestalpine noted. Ebitda reached €1.7 billion, down from €2.5 billion.
In 2023, Austria’s commerce chamber, Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (WKO), expressed concern over the crash in demand and orders for commodities in the country (see Kallanish passim). WKO saw orders declining by as much as 30%, with no relief in sight.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
