Austria’s steel production falls in April

Austria’s steelmakers decreased crude steel production in April, according to worldsteel data.

Output amounted to 651,477 tonnes, down by 6.5% compared to the previous month and less by 0.8% on-year, Kallanish notes.

In January-April, the country produced 2.48 million tonnes of steel, down 6.3% on-year.

In 2022, Austria had reduced steel production by 4.7% on-year to 7.51mt.

Overall EU output in April fell by 11% on-month to 11mt. In January-April, European steelmakers produced 44.4mt, down 10.2% on-year.

This year, EU steelmakers have begun restarting capacities that were shut down in last year’s fourth quarter, as apparent demand for steel and product prices began to rise, while energy costs declined and stabilised. However, the market has turned down again in the second quarter. Prices are falling amid severely subdued buying activity and declining import values.

In May, Voestalpine Tubulars said it will acquire section tubes production facilities from Vallourec Germany. Voestalpine Tubulars is active in the production of seamless round tubes and, in future, will thus be able to produce square and rectangular hollow sections up to large formats and wall thicknesses seamlessly hot-rolled.

Earlier, voestalpine approved an investment of around €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) for the construction of one electric arc furnace at each of its two sites in Austria – Linz and Donawitz. These will ultimately replace two blast furnaces by 2027.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria