The consumption of rolled steel in Germany decreased by 11.9% y/y in January-August

In January-August 2023, German enterprises decreased consumption of rolled steel by 11.9% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 19.83 million tons. This is evidenced by the calculations of the GMK Center based on the database of Eurostat and the German steel association WV Stahl.

In 8 months, 9.99 million tons of rolled steel (long and flat rolled products) were imported into Germany, which is 25.4% less compared to the same period in 2022. At the same time, imports from third countries amounted to 537.2 thousand tons (-32.9% y/y), and from EU countries – 9.45 million tons (-24.9%). Import deliveries make up 50.4% of the domestic market of rolled steel consumption in Germany. The share of the imported component in the domestic consumption of steel products fell by 9.1 percentage points y/y.

The import structure is characterized by a significant dominance of flat rolled products over graded ones – 66.8% and 33.2%, respectively. In the same period of 2022, the dominance of flat rolled products over graded products was slightly lower, but also noticeable – 65.9% and 34.1%, respectively.

In general, in January-August 2023, German steelmakers produced 21.2 million tons of hot-rolled steel products, which is 5,2% less compared to the same period in 2022. 11.35 million tons of products were shipped for export, which is less by 14.3% y/y, in particular to third countries – 2.28 million t (-10.1% y/y), and to the EU market – 9.07 million tons (-15.3% y/y). 9.84 million tons of rolled goods were sent to the domestic market, which is 8% more than y/y. In the current year, German steelmakers increased the shipment of products to the domestic market, the share of exports in the total volume of produced products for 8 months of 2023 was 53.6%, while in January-August 2022 it was 59.3%.

«Germany is a traditional car producer and the demand for flat steel is mainly supported by this industry. In particular, in August, orders for new cars in Germany increased by 7% year-on-year. In 2023, it is expected that the production of cars in the country will increase by 9%. Accordingly, German plants will need more steel, and since imported supplies are more profitable compared to the offers of local producers, the volume of imports is increasing,» commented the GMK Center analyst Andriy Glushchenko.

The specific weight of flat rolled products in export deliveries for 8 months increased to 69.4% against 67.5% a year earlier. The share of rolled products in export deliveries decreased to 30.6% from 32.5%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Germany in January-August 2023 reduced production of steel by 4.2% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 24.33 million tons. The output of hot-rolled products reached 21.19 million tons (-4.6% y/y). Pig iron production fell by 0.1% y/y – to 16.16 million tons.