France reduced steel production by 26% m/m in December 2022

In December 2022, steel enterprises of France reduced steel production by 26% compared to November 2022 – to 673 thousand tons. This is evidenced by WorldSteel Association’s data.

Annually, steel production in France decreased by 32.6% as of December 2022.

In 2022, French steelmakers produced 12.12 million tons of steel. This is 13.1% less compared to the same period in 2021.

In 2021, France increased steel production by 20.3% compared to 2020 – up to 13.9 million tons. Thus, the country took 17th place in the WorldSteel global rating of steel producers.

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.

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.

  • Companies

Tenaris has begun construction of its second wind farm in Argentina

Tenaris has announced the start of construction of its second wind farm in Argentina, La…

Saturday June 28, 2025
  • Companies

Metinvest has created protective armor for Patriot air defense systems

As part of the Steel Front initiative, Metinvest Group has manufactured and installed special protective…

Saturday June 28, 2025
  • Companies

Arvedi Group raises €900 million to expand production and decarbonize

Italian steel company Arvedi Group has raised €900 million in financing to implement a large-scale…

Friday June 27, 2025
  • Global Market

Domestic demand for steel in China continues to fall

Domestic demand for steel in China, according to market participants' estimates, continued to fall in…

Friday June 27, 2025
  • Industry

Construction works performed in Ukraine in January-April fell by 13% y/y

The index of construction work performed in Ukraine in January-April 2025 decreased by 13% compared…

Friday June 27, 2025
  • Global Market

Emissions in China’s steel industry sector rose by 17.9% y/y in May

In May 2025, Chinese steel enterprises belonging to the CISA industry association increased their total…

Friday June 27, 2025