In the month of December last year, Spanish crude steel output amounted to 900,000 mt, down 12.5 percent month on month, according to the Spanish steelmakers' association Unesid. The average monthly crude steel output in Spain in Q4 2011 totaled 1.15 million mt, with an 8.6 percent decrease year on year.
Meanwhile, crude steel output in Spain in 2011 totaled 15.6 million mt, decreasing by 4.7 percent or 800,000 mt compared to 2010. According to Unesid, the drop in Spanish steel production in 2011 was due to the crisis in the Spanish construction industry, as well as due to the unfavourable $/€ exchange rate up to the month of September which hampered exports to non-EU countries.