The German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl) has announced that Germany's crude steel output is expected to fall by three percent to 41.5 million metric tons in 2016. This will be the lowest level of the past 20 years, excluding the crisis in 1996 and 2009.
According to WV Stahl, the decline in the output is due to the increasing unfair competition in the international markets and Chinese exports at dumped prices. In October this year, China's steel exports to the European Union increased by 120 percent to approximately 12 million mt. WV Stahl stated that trade measures should be applied consistently and the EU should already be active against the threat of injury from unfair trade, rather than waiting until material damage has been caused. In addition, the steel federation warned that there must be no hasty recognition of China as a market economy.
WV Stahl also stated that, in order to meet the challenges in the current global environment, the German steel industry needs more than ever a level playing field, such as the elimination of unfair trade in the European steel market, and a global climate policy without burdens on competitiveness.