The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has shared its prospects regarding steel demand in the EU in its Annual Report 2023.
The overall evolution of steel demand in the EU remains subject to very high uncertainty, which is likely to continue to undermine demand from steel-using sectors, at least for the first half of 2023, EUROFER stated. Positive developments in apparent steel consumption are only expected to begin from the third quarter of 2023.
Apparent steel consumption, which decreased by 7.2 percent year on year in 2022 due to decreasing steel demand, is expected to fall by one percent in 2023. This would represent the fourth annual recession out of the last five years. In 2024, if there are more favorable developments in the industrial outlook and improvement in steel demand, then apparent steel consumption is set to recover at a faster rate than previously forecast.