In August this year Germany's crude steel output amounted to 3.45 million metric tons, increasing by 17.1 percent year on year and down 1.12 percent as compared to the previous month, according to the information provided by the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). In May, Germany's crude steel output attained its highest monthly volume recorded this year; however, the country's steel output has been falling on month-on-month basis ever since.
Meanwhile, in the January-August period of this year Germany's crude steel production reached 29.67 million metric tons, rising by 52.3 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
According to WV Stahl, the high growth rates reflected the low production levels recorded in 2009. Since Germany's crude steel output had begun to recover in the second half of 2009, the year-on-year growth rates are expected to decline in the remainder of this year.
On the other hand, in July this year, Germany's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 2.84 million metric tons, up by 16.5 percent, including 1.97 million metric tons of flat steel products - up 23 percent, and 865,000 metric tons of long steel products - up 3.9 percent, all compared to July 2009.