Germany reduced steel production by 11.3% y/y in March

In March 2025, German steelmakers reduced steel production by 11.3% compared to the same month in 2024, to 3.11 million tons. The figure increased by 15.2% compared to the previous month. This is evidenced by data from the German Steel Industry Association WVStahl.

Steel production in oxygen converters amounted to 2.06 million tons for the month, down 14.8% y/y and 12.1% m/m, and in electric arc furnaces – 1.05 million tons (-3.5% y/y; +21.8% m/m).

Pig iron production in Germany in March decreased by 15% compared to March 2024, and increased by 10.9% compared to January to 1.89 million tons. Hot-rolled steel production decreased by 7.3% y/y and increased by 17.7% m/m – to 2.79 million tons.

In January-March 2025, the German steel industry reduced steel production by 12.5% y/y – to 8.49 million tons. Oxygen converters produced 5.75 million tons of steel (-15.1% y/y), and electric arc furnaces – 2.74 million tons (-6.4% y/y). Pig iron production fell by 15.7% y/y over the three months to 5.32 million tons. Rolled steel production decreased by 10.9% y/y – to 7.64 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Germany is among the ten largest steel producers in the world according to World Steel. In 2024, the country increased its steel production by 5.2% compared to 2023, to 37.23 million tons. Pig iron production for the year amounted to 24.33 million tons (+2.9% y/y), and hot-rolled steel production amounted to 31.61 million tons (+3% y/y).

Despite the growth in steel production, the volume of production for the third consecutive year remained below the 40 million tons, which corresponds to the level of the recession, WVStahl notes.