Spain’s crude steel production recovers in September

The Spanish steel sector saw activity continue to recover in September after a slight deceleration observed in the previous three months. Production rose sequentially for the first time since May, Kallanish notes.

According to the Spanish steelmakers’ association Unesid, the local steel industry produced around 1.25 million tonnes of crude steel in September. This was 12.7% more than August’s output of 1.10mt and 26.9% higher year-on-year. If compared to the pre-Covid-19 September 2019, this volume results in 2% growth.

According to Unesid data, crude steel production in September was 101,000t fewer than the 2021-high in May.

During the first nine months of the year, Spanish output reached 10.88mt. Unesid did not disclose an on-year comparison in its latest report, but taking worldsteel figures into account, the growth is estimated at almost 38.3%.

Spain used 1.01mt of ferrous scrap for steelmaking in September, up 18.5% month-on-month. This volume was also 16% and 21% over the same month in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Cumulative scrap usage was 8.57mt, representing 78.8% of total crude steel production in the nine-month period.

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria