According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2015-2016/Q1 2015 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), EU steel tube output rose by 2.8 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2014.
Market conditions are expected to have deteriorated in the final quarter of last year, and this can be primarily attributed to new headwinds in the line
pipe market. Whereas output in the second quarter and particularly in the third quarter was boosted by construction work on the first stretch of the South Stream pipeline, the halt of the project by Russia and the subsequent suspension of tube deliveries is expected to have had a negative impact on tube output in the last quarter of 2014. EU tube production in the whole of 2014 is expected to have increased by two percent
EUROFER stated that the outlook for the large diameter welded
pipe market in 2015 and 2016 is also affected by the cancellation of the South Stream project. Although EU tube mills probably would not have been the major beneficiaries in terms of line
pipe supplies, it would have alleviated competitive pressures in the international markets.
According to EURFOER, EU production of steel tubes is expected to rise by around one percent in 2015 and 1.5 percent in 2016.