Austria increased steel production by 12.2% m/m in May

In May 2025, Austrian steel companies increased steel production by 12.2% compared to the previous month, to 690 thousand tons. Compared to May 2024, the figure increased by 6.2%. Thus, the country ranks 21st in the WorldSteel global ranking of steel producers.

During January-May, steel production by Austrian steelmakers decreased by 4.5% compared to the same period in 2024, to 3.07 million tons. At the same time, the rate of decline is slowing down, as it was 7.1% y/y in the first quarter and 6% y/y in January-April.

The country’s key steel producer, voestalpine AG, highlights problems with product cost and competitiveness. In particular, the company recently appealed to the authorities to renew the mechanism for compensating energy-intensive enterprises for the cost of electricity.

voestalpine CEO Herbert Eibenschneider warned that high electricity costs are forcing European customers to look for cheaper suppliers, and voestalpine is losing customers.

Overall, EU steel companies reduced steel production by 3.1% y/y in May 2025 – to 11.4 million tons, and by 2.5% y/y in January-May – to 54.9 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Austria produced 7.1 million tons of steel in 2024, which is on par with 2023. The country ranked 23rd in the global ranking of steel-producing countries, while in 2022 it ranked 22nd.

Austria is home to two Voestalpine steel plants, namely Voestalpine Stahl Linz with a capacity of 6 million tons of steel per year, and Voestalpine Stahl Donawitz with a capacity of 1.57 million tons per year.