Exclusive Germany reduced steel production by 13.7% y/y in July

The indicator has been declining for seven consecutive months in annual comparison

In July 2025, German steel enterprises reduced steel production by 13.7% compared to the same month in 2024, to 2.72 million tons. Compared to the previous month, the figure increased by 1.5%. Production volumes have been declining for the seventh consecutive month year-on-year. This is evidenced by data from the German Steel Industry Association WVStahl.

Steel production in oxygen furnaces amounted to 1.89 million tons, which is 19.6% less y/y and 9.2% more m/m, and in electric arc furnaces – 821 thousand tons (+4% y/y; -12.7% m/m).

Pig iron production in Germany in July decreased by 18.3% compared to July 2024, but increased by 6.7% compared to June, to 1.74 million tons. Hot-rolled steel production fell by 4.9% y/y and 1.1% m/m to 2.47 million tons.

In January-July 2025, Germany’s steel industry reduced steel production by 12.1% y/y – to 19.83 million tons. Oxygen converters produced 13.34 million tons of steel (-16% y-o-y), and electric arc furnaces produced 6.49 million tons (-2.8% y-o-y). Pig iron production fell by 15% y-o-y – to 12.38 million tons in the first seven months of the year. Rolled steel production decreased by 7.8% y-o-y – to 17.75 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Germany is among the world’s top ten steel producers according to World Steel. At the end of 2024, the country increased its steel output by 5.2% compared to 2023, to 37.23 million tons. Pig iron production for the year amounted to 24.33 million tons (+2.9% y-o-y), and hot-rolled steel production amounted to 31.61 million tons (+3% y-o-y).

Despite the growth in steel production, smelting volumes remained below the 40 million ton threshold for the third consecutive year, which corresponds to the level of recession, according to WVStahl.