Jul 26, 2023
EUROFER: Apparent steel consumption in EU to contract further in 2023
2023-08-04
According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2023-2024/Q3 2023 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), in the first quarter of 2023 apparent steel consumption in the EU-27 amounted to 34.5 million mt, decreasing by 11.7 percent compared to the same period of 2022. In the fourth quarter last year, apparent steel consumption had fallen by 19.3 percent year on year.
The association expects apparent steel consumption in the EU-27 to contract even further in 2023 by one percent. This would mark the fourth annual recession in the past five years. However, in 2024, apparent steel consumption is set to recover at a faster rate at 6.2 percent, compared to the 5.4 percent increase in the previous guidance, conditional on more favorable developments in the market outlook and an improvement in steel demand.
Steel demand remains subject to high uncertainty, which is expected to continue undermining real demand from steel-using sectors at least for the first half of 2023. It is anticipated that quarterly positive developments in apparent steel consumption will only start to emerge from the third quarter of 2023.
Despite the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices, the output of steel-using sectors increased by 3.7 percent in the first quarter, primarily driven by the outperforming automotive, mechanical engineering and transport sectors.
In addition, domestic deliveries in the EU decreased by 6.2 percent in the first quarter, for the fourth consecutive time.
