Austria reduced steel production by 8.4% m/m in April

Austrian steelmakers reduced steel production by 8.4% in April 2024 compared to March this year, to 633 thousand tons. Thus, the country was ranked 21st in the global ranking of steel producing countries (71) by the WorldSteel Association.

Austrian steelmakers reduced steel production by 2.8% compared to April 2023.

In January-April, Austria increased steel production by 2% compared to the same period in 2023, to 2.53 million tons. The average monthly steel production for this period amounted to 631.75 thousand tons compared to 619.25 thousand tons a year earlier.

Overall, steel production in the European Union in January-April 2024 decreased by 0.6% compared to January-April 2023 – to 44.4 million tons. Global steel production for 4 months amounted to 625.4 million tons, down 0.9% y/y.

As a reminder, in 2023, Austria reduced steel production by 5% compared to 2022, to 7.13 million tons. The average monthly steel production amounted to 594.4 thousand tons, while in the same period of 2022 the figure was 626 thousand tons (-5.04% y/y).

There are 2 Voestalpine steel plants in Austria, including 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.

The total capacity of the plants is 7.57 million tons per year. Thus, in 2023, capacity utilization was 94.2%.

The decline in steel production last year was due to the weak market conditions that have been observed since the fall of 2022. The European steel industry is facing high production costs at a time when demand for domestic steel products is weak amid a flood of cheaper imported products. In the autumn and winter, many companies limit their capacity to balance supply and demand and stabilize product prices.