Apparent steel consumption in the EU fell by 25.5 percent year on year in the second quarter this year, following a drop of 12 percent in the first quarter, according to the European Steel Association’s (EUROFER) latest Economic and Market Outlook. This was the most severe drop in EU steel consumption ever recorded.
Industrial activity restarted over the third quarter with the lifting of the coronavirus-related measures. The EUROFER report stated that the figures for the period will likely show a considerable rebound in GDP, compared to the record lows in the second quarter. This recovery may now be at risk if there is a second wave of the coronavirus, EUROFER said.
Total output in EU steel-using sectors fell by 21.3 percent in the second quarter this year, following a 6.5 percent drop in the previous quarter. The continued downturn in steel demand, which was widely expected as a result of the economic and industrial lockdown caused by the pandemic, led domestic deliveries in the EU to fall by 28.6 percent in the second quarter, declining for the seventh consecutive quarter year on year, following a decline of 8.2 percent in the first quarter.
After a considerable drop of 20 percent in the first quarter of the current year, the downward trend in imports continued in the second quarter, with a year-on-year fall of 16.7 percent. This was equal to 7.1 million mt in absolute volumes, accounting for 24 percent of EU steel demand.
“The outlook for this year and for 2021 remains very uncertain, given that the coronavirus measures are now being re-imposed across the EU,” Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER, said.