In April this year, Germany's crude steel output amounted to 3.56 million metric tons, decreasing 0.9 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, and down 6.6 percent month on month, according to the information provided by the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). In the first four months of the current year Germany's crude steel output amounted to 14.4 million mt, down 0.5 percent compared to the same period 2012.
On the other hand, in March this year Germany's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 3.35 million metric tons, decreasing 2.9 percent year on year, including 2.2 million metric tons of flat steel products - up 0.3 percent year on year, and 1.1 million metric tons of long steel products - down 7.6 percent year on year. In the first quarter of the year, the country's hot rolled steel output fell by 1.3 percent to 9.4 million mt, consisting of 6.2 million metric tons of flat steel products - down 0.6 percent year on year, and 3.2 million metric tons of long steel products - down 2.8 percent year on year.