According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2024-2025/Q4 2024 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), in the second quarter of this year, output of the EU steel tube industry declined by 1.6 percent year on year, after a 4.4 percent decrease in the previous quarter.
According to the EUROFER report, liquified natural gas (LNG) shipping will continue to depress demand for large welded tubes from the oil and gas sector. Global oil demand is still not strong enough to support new pipeline launches or implementations. EUROFER has maintained its forecast for oil demand in the EU, which is expected to continue to weaken in the remainder of the current year. Demand from the construction sector is also set to decrease, while tube demand from the automotive and engineering sectors will remain relatively stronger.
EUROFER stated that production in the EU steel tube sector is expected to decrease by two percent year on year in 2024, while for 2025 tube output is forecast to grow by 0.8 percent year on year.