News » The resurgence of the pandemic in Europe and across the world is putting further pressure on EU steel.
The resurgence of the pandemic in Europe and across the world is putting further pressure on EU steel.
Recent updates
Apparent steel consumption in the EU fell (-25.5%) year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, after a drop (-12%) in the first quarter. This was the most severe drop in EU steel consumption ever recorded.
The exceptionally negative trend in steel demand seen in the second quarter of 2020 is – as widely expected – the result of the economic and industrial lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state of EU and global steel means there is an increased urgency to deal with excess steel capacity worldwide, as this overcapacity will undermine the recovery. In October, national and regional associations and members of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity called on G20 leaders to keep working on a multilateral solution to the problem. EUROFER welcomes continued EU leadership on this issue. Additionally, the EU steel safeguard must be adapted and extended to avoid a resurgence in steel demand being matched by an unhindered flood of dumped imports.
The coming months may prove to be doubly challenging: the resurgence of COVID-19 cases is prompting the reimposition of control measures. Ensuring the effectiveness of public health measures whilst minimising the impact on the economy is a fine balancing act but it is essential because further setbacks will have long-run implications for all sectors and their ambitions for the coming years. EU leaders will have to act decisively to ensure that Europe gets back on track once the pandemic has faded.
In the meantime, stay safe.
Brussels, 27 November 2024 – The European steel industry is at a critical juncture, facing irreversible decline unless the EU and Member States take immediate action to secure its future and green transition. Despite repeated warnings from the sector, the EU leadership and governments have yet to implement decisive measures to preserve manufacturing and allow green investments across Europe. Recent massive production cuts and closure announcements by European steelmakers show that time has run out. A robust European Steel Action Plan under an EU Clean Industrial Deal cannot wait or manufacturing value chains across Europe will simply vanish, warns the European Steel Association.
Brussels, 12 November 2024 - Ahead of Commissioner-Designate Séjourné’s hearing in the European Parliament, European steel social partners, supported by cross-party MEPs, jointly call for an EU Steel Action Plan to restore steel’s competitiveness, and save its green transition as well as steelworkers’ jobs across Europe.
Brussels, 29 October 2024 – The European steel market faces an increasingly challenging outlook, driven by a combination of low steel demand, a downturn in steel-using sectors, and persistently high import shares. These factors, combined with a weak overall economic forecast, rising geopolitical tensions, and higher energy costs for the EU compared to other major economic regions, are further deepening the downward trend observed in recent quarters. According to EUROFER’s latest Economic and Steel Market Outlook, apparent steel consumption will not recover in 2024 as previously projected (+1.4%) but is instead expected to experience another recession (-1.8%), although milder than in 2023 (-6%). Similarly, the outlook for steel-using sectors’ output has worsened for 2024 (-2.7%, down from -1.6%). Recovery projections for 2025 are also more modest for both apparent consumption (+3.8%) and steel-using sectors’ output (+1.6%). Steel imports share rose to 28% in the second quarter of 2024.
The European Steel Association (EUROFER)
172 Avenue de Cortenbergh
1000 Brussels
Belgium
Email: mail@eurofer.eu
Phone: +32 (0) 2 738 79 20
