Crude steel production in Germany recovered significantly in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, Kallanish hears from national steel federation WV Stahl.
Output in H1 amounted to 18.6 million tonnes, around 9% higher than the previous year’s level. However, there is no sign of a sustained turnaround yet, the federation warns. Extrapolated over the whole year, crude steel production, at around 37mt, would remain below the 40mt mark required for economically viable capacity utilisation.
Even more serious is the exceptionally low level of steel demand in Germany, the federation points out. The main customer sectors – construction, mechanical and plant engineering, and the automotive industry – have shown only weak growth so far this year.
“Production figures are on the rise, but a genuine recovery will only begin once real demand for steel returns,” says Kerstin Maria Rippel, managing director of WV Stahl. “The increases are primarily a reflection of a technical rebound, such as the replenishment of stock levels.”
Public procurement is a key lever in this regard, the federation states. “Anyone investing billions in taxpayers’ money must not focus solely on the cheapest supplier from the Far East,” says Rippel. Public procurement law must be shaped by Brussels and Berlin in such a way that local industrial value creation is also taken into account.
“A binding ‘Made in the EU’ criterion is of central importance here,” Rippel adds.
The increase of crude steel output at German mills during H1 is more notable in oxygen-route mills, which gained 11.5% to 12.8mt, while the EAF production rose by only 3.5% to 5.9mt. That divergence had equalised by June, when both routes showed a year-on-year increase of around 9%.
