In the first quarter of the current year, new orders in the German steel market increased 0.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, reaching their highest levels since the winter of 2008, according to the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). According to the federation, this fifth consecutive quarter-on-quarter increase reflects the strength of overseas demand attracted by EU-28 countries.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter, rolled steel orders in Germany increased by around four percent year on year to 8.4 million metric tons. The increased demand was seen especially from third countries (up 62.4 percent year on year and increasing by 3.9 percent quarter on quarter), totaling 1.27 million metric tons, while domestic demand decreased by 5.3 percent year on year to 4.78 million metric tons.