German steel production in May fell for the first time since the beginning of 2024 by 1.9% year on year to 3.2 million mt, according to the data published on June 20 by German steel federation WV Stahl.
From January to May, a total of around 16.2 million mt of liquid steel was produced, showing a growth of 3.7% compared to the same period last year.
Last month, steel production from the blast furnace route went down by 2.5% year on year to 2.23 million mt while from the electric arc route the decrease was more contained, down by only 0.5% to 954,000 mt.
From January to May production via blast furnace route rose by 2.5% to 11.30 million mt and up by 6.5% via electric arc furnace to 4.87 million mt.
Pig iron production in May fell 3.3% year on year to 2 million mt. In the first five months of 2024, production went up by 2.4% to 10.44 million mt.
In May, hot rolled coils prices moved from Eur640/mt base works Ruhr at the beginning of May to Eur630/mt base ex-works on May 30. Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur635/mt ($682.24/mt) ex-works Ruhr on June 19.
The German Steel Federation aims to produce steel in a climate-neutral manner by 2045, reducing one-third of the total industrial greenhouse gas emissions. With 35.4 million mt in 2023, Germany has the largest steel production in Europe.
Annalisa Villa
