In April this year Germany's crude steel output amounted to 3.8 million metric tons, decreasing by 1.7 percent year on year, the first year-on-year drop registered since October 2009. However, as compared to the previous month, the country's crude steel output in April rose 2.5 percent, after the elimination of seasonal effects, according to the information provided by the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). Germany's crude steel production is still exceptionally high, WV Stahl said. In view of the improved order situation in the last few months, production is expected to strengthen further in the second quarter of the current year.
Meanwhile, in the January-April period of this year Germany's crude steel production reached 15.2 million metric tons, rising by 2.6 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
On the other hand, in March this year, Germany's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 3.52 million metric tons, up by 2.9 percent, including 2.34 million metric tons of flat steel products - up 2.1 percent, and 1.19 million metric tons of long steel products - up 4.5 percent, all compared to March 2010.