According to EUROFER’s third-quarter Economic and Steel Market Outlook for 2026–2027, the EU’s total steel imports, including semi-finished products, fell by 5% year on year in the first half of the year. Despite the decline, the EU remained a net steel importer.
Total steel imports fell by 10% in the first quarter and 2% in the second. The share of imported products in apparent consumption dropped to 23% in the first quarter of 2026, from a record 37% in the final quarter of 2025.
In the first half of the year, imports of finished steel products fell by 3%. Flat product imports increased by 2%, while long product imports declined by 18%. Imports of rebar fell by 23%, wire rod by 21%, heavy sections by 47% and cold-rolled sheet by 17%. Imports of hot-rolled wide strip, however, rose by 14%.
Türkiye accounted for 15.7% of imports, followed by China at 12.3%, South Korea at 12%, Indonesia at 8.8%, India at 7.7% and Ukraine at 6.6%.
Finished steel imports from Türkiye fell by 16%, while imports from China rose by 40% and those from Indonesia by 70%.
Total steel exports to third countries fell by 20%, while exports of finished steel products decreased by 18%. Shipments to the US fell by 29%, those to India by 24% and those to Türkiye by 21%.
The average monthly trade deficit, including semi-finished products, narrowed from 1.985 million tonnes in 2025 to 1.769 million tonnes in the first half of 2026. The monthly deficit in finished products stood at 1.035 million tonnes, of which 1.014 million tonnes came from flat products.
Alongside trade data, the report also covered the outlook for European steel production and demand. EU crude steel production fell by 2.9% in 2025 to 125.8 million tonnes, its lowest level on record. Capacity utilisation rose from 65% in 2025 to 67% in the first quarter of 2026.
Apparent steel consumption increased by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2026.
However, EUROFER expects growth to be limited to 0.1% for the full year, before reaching 2.3% in 2027. Despite this recovery, consumption is forecast to remain around 7 million tonnes below its 2019 level.
Production in steel-using sectors is expected to grow by 1.5% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027, while automotive production is forecast to decline by 0.9% this year.
