Belgium reduced steel production by 5.7% y/y in March

Belgian steelmakers reduced steel production by 5.7% in March 2024 compared to March 2023, to 560 thousand tons. This is evidenced by data from the WorldSteel Association.

In Q1 2024, Belgian steelmakers reduced steel production by 3.3% compared to the same period in 2023, to 1.605 million tons.

Overall, steel production in the EU countries in January-March 2024 decreased by 1.4% compared to January-March 2023, to 33 million tons. Global steel production for 3 months amounted to 469.1 million tons, up 0.5% y/y.

Belgium has 5 steel mills, including one blast furnace (BF&BOF) in Ghent (annual capacity of 4.34 million tons of steel) and four electric arc furnaces – two in Charleroi (850 thousand tons and 350 thousand tons), one in Châtelet (1 million tons) and one in Genk (1.2 million tons). These are enterprises of Aperam and ArcelorMittal.

In 2023, Belgian steelmakers reduced steel production by 16.1% compared to 2022, to 5.89 million tons. In December, Belgian steelmakers produced 423 thousand tons of steel, up 69.9% compared to November 2023 and down 28.5% compared to December 2022.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, European steelmakers reduced steel production by 7.4% year-on-year – to 126.3 million tons. Overall, global steel production last year fell by 0.1% y/y – to 1.850 billion tons.