The German steel industry faced a challenging year in 2023, with crude steel output reaching its lowest level since 2009. According to the German Steel Association (WV Stahl), high energy prices and weak demand were the primary factors driving this decline. In December 2023, Germany produced 2.631 million tonnes of crude steel, a 2.3% decrease compared to December 2022. Over the entire year, crude steel output dropped by 3.9% year-on-year to 35.438 million tonnes.
WV Stahl highlighted that the energy-intensive production from electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) was particularly affected by the high electricity prices and the weak construction sector. Despite a slight increase in EAF-based production in December 2023, the overall annual production from EAFs fell by 10.8% compared to the previous year.
The association noted that such a prolonged negative cycle in steel production had never been seen before in Germany’s steel industry. The general manager of WV Stahl, Kerstin Maria Rippel, called for political action to mitigate the rising production costs impacting the steel industry.
