According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2012-2013/Q3 2012 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), in 2012 steel consumption by the EU construction sector will decrease by two percent, while it is expected to fall by 0.6 percent in the third quarter and by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, all year on year. In 2013, the trend is expected to change, with EU construction steel consumption foreseen to increase by 2.7 percent, 1.9 percent, 2 percent and 2.3 percent in the four respective quarters, ending 2013 with an average 2.2 percent increase year on year.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter of the current year construction output in the European Union (EU) was down 5.5 percent year on year.
Harsh weather conditions which reduced activity in February this year and the strong output level in the first quarter of 2011 resulted in a marked year-on-year contraction in construction sector output in most EU countries. For this reason, construction output in Germany fell by more than 10 percent year on year. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary also registered double-digit year-on-year declines in output. Preliminary data for the second quarter of 2012 indicate that construction activity remained depressed in the EU except in the United Kingdom and Poland, where major sport events boosted the local construction sector, and in Germany where the main factor driving growth in the market is robust demand for residential property.
According to EUROFER, construction activity in the EU is on a downward trend everywhere except in Germany and Poland, where construction output continues to be supported by civil engineering projects. In particular, those countries which have adopted particularly harsh austerity packages will also suffer early in 2013.