In May this year, Germany's crude steel output amounted to 3.65 million metric tons, decreasing 1.5 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and up 2.5 percent month on month, according to the information provided by the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). In the first five months of the current year, Germany's crude steel output amounted to 18 million mt, down 0.6 percent compared to the same period in 2012.
On the other hand, in April this year Germany's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 3.2 million metric tons, increasing 4.9 percent year on year, including 2.1 million metric tons of flat steel products - up 5.7 percent year on year, and 1.1 million metric tons of long steel products - up 3.6 percent year on year. In the first four months of the year, the country's hot rolled steel output rose slightly by 0.2 percent to 12.6 million mt, consisting of 8.3 million metric tons of flat steel products - up 0.9 percent year on year, and 4.3 million metric tons of long steel products - down 1.3 percent year on year.