Austria increased crude steel production in July, bucking the overall EU downtrend, according to worldsteel data.
Output amounted to 658,067 tonnes, up 7.5% on-month and 2.3% more year-on-year, Kallanish notes.
In the first seven months of the year, the country produced 4.31 million tonnes of steel, compared to 4.47mt in the same period last year.
Austria remained in 23rd place in the ranking of top global steel producers, the data show.
Overall EU output in June was down 7% on-year at 10.16mt. January-July production was 75.6mt compared to 78.6mt in the same period last year.
Austrian steelmaker voestalpine recently expressed optimism over economic stimulus in the form of the infrastructure spending programme announced by the German government (see Kallanish passim).
The steelmaker said earlier it will supply steel to Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD for its new car factory in Hungary. The company was chosen by BYD because of its geographical proximity to the Hungary plant, and the high quality and excellent reputation of Austrian steel, the Chinese company noted.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
