Total steel exports from the EU to third countries fell five percent year on year in the third quarter of 2016, customs data for October and November signal that this trend persisted in the fourth quarter of the year, according to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2017-2018/Q1 2017 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER). In 2016, total steel exports are expected to have decreased by 11 percent year on year.
EUROFER said that in the first 11 months of 2016 semi-finished product exports declined by 64 percent, while finished steel exports dropped by five percent in the same period, with flat steel exports falling by five percent and long steel exports by six percent, all year on year.
With regard to the main countries of destination for EU exports, Turkey and the US were the key destinations for flat steel exports, while Algeria, Turkey and the US were the main destinations for long steel exports.
According to EUROFER, for the time being, competitive pressures in the international markets for steel products will remain high. Although the global economy is showing the first signs of a mild recovery in 2017 and 2018, and as a consequence, a slight recovery of global steel demand is to be expected, competitive pressures in the global steel market will remain extremely fierce without the necessary supply-side measures.