EU steel demand to slide 3pc in 2023

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters): Steel demand in the European Union is expected to slide 3 per cent this year amid persistently high energy prices and sluggish demand, the European Steel Association (Eurofer) said last week, downgrading its outlook.

In May, the industry group said steel consumption was due to decline by 1 per cent in 2023, but lingering uncertainty meant that the prospects for this year have deteriorated, a statement said.

"The European steel industry has been navigating through numerous challenges for a long time now, from the pandemic to the energy crisis and other ongoing disruptive factors," said Eurofer Director General Axel Eggert.

The EU steel sector produces about 152 million metric tons of steel per year at about 500 sites with turnover of 130 billion euros ($144.04 billion).

The decline of apparent steel demand in 2023 would mark the fourth negative performance in the past five years, the group said.

Apparent steel demand measures steel output plus imports net of exports and incoming material being further processed in the bloc.

Eurofer, however, was more optimistic about 2024, upgrading its forecast to a rise in demand of 6.2 per cent from the 5.4 per cent estimate in May.

In the first quarter - the most recent actual data available - steel consumption crumbled 11.7 per cent year-on-year to 34.5 million metric tons, an improvement over the 19.3 per cent drop in the final quarter of last year, a statement said.