According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2024-2025/Q3 2024 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), in the first quarter of this year, output of the EU steel tube industry declined by 3.8 percent year on year, after a one percent increase in the previous quarter.
According to the EUROFER report, demand for large welded tubes from the oil and gas sector is not expected to improve significantly in the longer term since the EU has accelerated its transition towards liquified natural gas (LNG) shipping for its energy needs, thereby reducing its reliance on gas transported via pipelines. On the one hand, global oil demand is not expected to support the launch or the implementation of new pipelines in the short term due to high geopolitical uncertainty and the poor global economic outlook. The EU’s oil demand is expected to keep dropping in the remainder of the current year, in line with low economic growth expectations. On the other hand, demand from the construction sector is also set to decrease and contribute modestly to growth in output, while tube demand from the automotive and engineering sectors is expected to remain relatively stronger.
EUROFER stated that production in the EU steel tube sector is expected to decrease by two percent in 2024. As for 2025, tube output is forecast to grow by 0.8 percent year on year.
