German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl) president Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff has said at the 2013 Hannover Messe machinery and industry fair that the situation in the German steel industry remains fragile and marked by the euro debt crisis and high commodity prices.
According to Mr. Kerkhoff, the capacity utilization in the German steel industry in the first two months of the year was at 83 percent, still above the international average of 78 percent, but below the levels of previous years. Regarding the crude steel production in
Germany which has improved moderately in the first two months of 2013 compared to the same period last year, the WV Stahl president said, "Despite the overall sluggish start to the year, we are maintaining our economic forecast for the year and continue to believe that the production of crude steel in 2013 will be around 43 million mt."
Commodity prices moved up significantly in 2013, while the distance between prices of steel materials and prices of other industrial raw materials has grown considerably. In the iron ore spot market, prices have increased by more than 50 percent since the low point of September last year. "We imported iron ore valued at €1.8 billion in 2005, with €5.2 billion spent on the same volume in 2011," said Kerkhoff.