Europe's steel output remained robust in April

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The crude steel production by EU-28 countries surged higher significantly in April this year. The production by Other European countries too reported robust growth during the month. The cumulative output by the regions during the initial four-month period of the year too was up considerably in comparison with the corresponding period last year.

The crude steel output by the EU-28 countries totaled 14.296 million tonnes (Mt) during the month. This is 6.1% higher when compared with 13.472 Mt output recorded in April 2016. The combined output during January to April this year was up by 4.5% to 56.840 Mt. The production had totaled 54.408 Mt during the first four months in 2016.

Among EU-28 countries, Germany continued to remain as the top producer of crude steel during April. The production by the country totaled 3.842 Mt, higher by over 8% when matched with the production of 3.555 Mt during the same month a year before. Italy emerged as the second largest producer during the month. However, Italy’s output registered 6% decline over the year from 2.101 Mt to 1.976 Mt. In third place was France with 1.264 Mt output during the month, rising sharply by over 30% when matched with 966,000 tonnes output in April 2016. The other key producers in EU-28 region were Spain (1.194 Mt), Poland (815,000 tonnes), the UK (712,000 tonnes) and Austria (674,000 tonnes). Hungary recorded the highest jump in crude steel output during the month. The output by the country skyrocketed by nearly 73% over the previous year.

During the initial four months of 2017, Germany produced 14.818 Mt of crude steel, marginally higher by 3.4% over the previous year. Italy too reported slight increase in production from 7.906 Mt in Jan-Apr ’16 to 8.106 Mt during the corresponding four-month period this year. France’s output jumped higher by 8.9% year-on-year from 4.744 Mt to 5.167 Mt during the four-month period. The other leading producing countries during Jan-Apr ’17 were Spain (4.772 Mt), Poland (3.304 Mt), Austria (2.714 Mt), the UK and Belgium (2.620 Mt each) and the Netherlands (2.223 Mt).

The crude steel output by Other European countries totaled 3.316 million tonnes (Mt) during the month. This is 8.0% higher when compared with 3.069 Mt output recorded in April 2016. The combined output during January to April this year was up by 13.0% to 12.802 Mt. The production had totaled 11.332 Mt during the first four months in 2016.

Turkey was the key steel producer among Other European countries. The Turkish output climbed higher by 6.5% over the year to total 3.026 Mt. The second largest producer was Serbia with 152,000 tons, rising sharply by 110.2%. Bosnia-Herzegovina (60,000 tonnes), Norway (46,000 tonnes) and Macedonia (32,000 tonnes) were the other primary producers of crude steel during April 2017.

During Jan-Apr ’17, Turkey produced 11.806 Mt of crude steel, considerably higher by 12% over the previous year. Serbia’s output surged higher by 86% over the year. Bosnia-Herzegovina reported sharp 17% decline in production from 274,000 tonnes in Jan-Apr ’16 to 228,000 tonnes during the corresponding four-month period this year. Macedonia and Norway reported 27.8% and 5.4% jump in crude steel output respectively.