According to the preliminary data issued by Hutnictvi zeleza, a steel organization associating steel companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, in 2009 the Czech Republic decreased its crude steel output by 28.1 percent to 4.59 million mt and reduced its pig iron production by 26.5 percent to 3.48 million mt, both compared to 2008, the Czech news agency CTK has reported.
In 2009, the country's rolled products output went down by 26 percent year on year to 4.29 million mt, while its pipe production decreased by 34.8 percent year on year to 469,000 mt.
According to Jaroslav Raab, head of Hutnictvi zeleza, the steel industry in the Czech Republic was hit by the full impact of the economic crisis, with production in the segment in 2009 dropping by more than one quarter to the level of the late 1950s.
Steel production in the Czech Republic (in thousand mt):
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 (preliminary results) | Change 2008/2009 (%) | |
4,627 | 5,192 | 5,287 | 4,737 | 3,483 | -26.5 | |
Crude Steel | 6,189 | 6,862 | 7,059 | 6,387 | 4,594 | -28.1 |
Rolled | 5,782 | 6,273 | 6,101 | 5,801 | 4,294 | -26.0 |
Pipes | 723 | 786 | 777 | 719 | 469 | -34.8 |
"This year will be a rather cautious one, like 2009. The segment could recover in 2011 at the earliest," Mr. Raab said.
"A growth in consumption of steel products is a condition for improvement," Mr. Raab said, adding that precise data about consumption in 2009 are not available yet. In addition, he stated that in 2009 both exports and imports decreased in the Czech steel industry.