Belgium increased steel production by 28.3% m/m in December 2022

In December 2022, Belgian steel enterprises increased steel production by 28.3% compared to the previous month – up to 667,000 tons. On an annual basis, steel production in the country increased by 13.8% in December. This is evidenced by WorldSteel Association’s data.

In 2022, steel production in Belgium amounted to 6.94 million tons, which is 0.4% more than in the same period of 2021.

In general, steel production in the countries of the European Union in December 2022 fell by 16.7% compared to December last year – to 9.2 million tons. In 2022, the indicator decreased by 10.5% y/y – to 136.7 million tons.

In 2021, Belgium produced 6.9 million tons of steel, taking 25th place in the ranking of steel-producing countries.

As GMK Center reported earlier, European steelmakers are massively reducing or stopping production against the background of rising electricity tariffs. At the same time, the European market is filled with imported steel products, which attract consumers by lower prices than local ones. Countries that supply cheap steel to the EU market do not pay emissions taxes and receive cheaper electricity than European producers. Because of this, the demand for European rolled steel fell, and production costs rose sharply.

According to Fastmarkets, since September 2022, about 14-15 million tons of annual steel capacities have already been stopped in Europe. Among those stopped Polish steel capacity, there is a blast furnace №3 of ArcelorMittal at the plant in Dombrova-Gurnych. The unit is capable of producing 2.2 million tons of steel per year. In general, the leading steel producer in Europe, ArcelorMittal, has already stopped about 7 million tons of annual capacity.