Spain increased steel production by 35.3% m/m in September

In September 2023, Spanish steel companies increased steel production by 35.3% compared to the previous month – up to 1.07 million tons. Compared to September 2022, the indicator increased by 5.3%. This is evidenced by WorldSteel Association’s data.

In January-September 2023, Spanish steelmakers reduced steel production by 5.7% compared to the same period last year – to 8.49 million tons.

The average monthly production of steel in Spain, in 9 months, amounted to 943.1 thousand tons, while for the same period in 2022, the indicator was at the level of 999.9 thousand tons (-5.67% y/y).

In 2022 Spain reduced steel production by 19.2% compared to 2021 – to 11.46 million tons. In December, the country’s steelmakers produced 686,000 tons of steel, which is 19.8% less than the previous month.

In general, steel production in the countries of the European Union in September 2023 fell by 1.1% compared to September last year – to 10.6 million tons. In January-September 2023, 96.2 million tons of steel were produced in the EU, which is 9.1% less y/y.

Low indicators of steel production in January-September 2023 are connected with the weak state of the market, which has 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 filling the market with cheaper imported products. Currently, many companies have limited their capacity to balance supply and demand and stabilize product prices.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022 European steelmakers reduced steel production by 10.5% compared to 2021 – to 136.7 million tons. In general, global steel output last year fell by 4.3% y/y – to 1.831 billion tons.