The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has stated that recent data on industrial production and unemployment signal that the EU economy continued to weaken in the first months of 2013, while the performance gap between Germany on the one side and France, Spain and Italy on the other appears to be widening.
According to EUROFER, total activity in the steel using sectors in the EU is expected to decline by around 1.5 percent this year. For 2014, a moderate recovery is pencilled in, supported by exports and domestic demand as investment and private consumption start to recover cautiously.
"For the time being, our client sectors will remain heavily exposed to weak domestic demand. Particularly the automotive and construction sectors struggle on in 2013. What is needed to kickstart the internal market, is better sentiment. This will only happen if credit supply improves and a credible growth perspective is offered by EU policymakers," said EUROFER director general Gordon Moffat.
According to EUROFER, steel demand in the EU headed down further in the first quarter of this year pn year-on-year basis, despite some moderate restocking of inventories. Meanwhile, imports increased sharply, reversing the falling trend registered in 2012. As a consequence, domestic producers lost market share to suppliers from third countries.
EUROFER pointed out that the market situation in the remainder of this year looks set to remain depressed. Apparent steel consumption is foreseen to drop by another two percent in 2013, before rising again moderately in 2014.