German crude steel output falls 7% on year in June: WV Stahl

Europe’s largest crude steel producer, Germany, registered a 7% year-on-year decrease in its crude steel output in June at 3.19 million mt as demand weakened and energy costs rose, data from the German steel federation WV Stahl showed.

According to the association, crude steel production over the January-June period fell 5.5% on the year to 19.57 million mt.

Crude steel production from electric arc furnaces, or EAFs, registered the largest on-year drop of 8.8% in June to 1.05 million mt as energy costs dented production.

Output from blast furnace basic oxygen furnaces, or BFs, was also down 6.1% from a year ago to 2.15 million mt.

During the first half of 2022, production from EAFs decreased 4.5% on the year to 6.22 million mt, while output from BFs dropped 6% to 13.34 million mt.

June pig iron production fell 7.9% year on year to 1.94 million mt, bringing H1 total production to 12.24 million mt, down 6% on the year.

Hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe were at Eur975/mt ex-works Ruhr at the beginning of June and ended the month at Eur840/mt base ex-works, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

Platts assessed HRC in Northern Europe at Eur855/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 18, stable day on day despite competitive offers from Central Europe, sources said.

— Annalisa Villa