Germany’s October crude steel output increases slightly year-on-year

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Detailed production figures for September 2012 show that output of hot rolled steel products also rose by 2.8% year-on-year to 3.16 million tonnes.

Within this total, long products production increased by 2.9% year-on-year to 1.19 million tonnes in September, while output of flats rose by 2.7% year-on-year to 1.97 million tonnes.

Looking at the complete third quarter of 2012, WV Stahl said total order intake in the industry was down by 1% compared with July-September 2011 to 8.68 million tonnes.

“The weakness in order intake in the steel industry reveals that the German economy is now worse affected by the eurozone crisis,” WV Stahl said.

Orders from within Germany were down by 6% year-on-year in the third quarter to 5.25 million tonnes, while orders from countries within the European Union fell by 2% year-on-year to 2.27 million tonnes.

However, orders from outside the EU rose by 34% year-on-year to 1.17 million tonnes.

Although general economic conditions are forecast to remain difficult for the steel industry in Germany in the fourth quarter, the association is cautiously optimistic about the next few months.

“Stabilisation of the order intake in the coming months is still possible depending on inventory cycles,” WV Stahl added.