According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2019-2020/Q1 2019 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), the EU steel market is estimated to have risen by 2.6 percent in 2018. The increase in steel demand mainly benefitted third country suppliers, owing to a rise of 12.3 percent in imports. By contrast, European producers barely gained from domestic growth, shipping just 0.6 percent more steel to the EU market.
“The sharp increase in imports in the second half of 2018 is proof that, in spite of the justified imposition of preliminary safeguard measures by the EU Commission last July, the EU market is still under siege”, said Axel Eggert, director general of the European Steel Association (EUROFER). “Market access to other regions has been blocked by protectionist measures in those places, thereby leading to a continued diversion of steel to the EU market,” he added.
EU apparent steel consumption grew by 2.6 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2018 and amounted to 38 million mt. Quarterly apparent steel consumption had, on average, been around 43 million mt in the first half of the year. The lower consumption in the third quarter can be explained from the usual seasonal slowdown in manufacturing and construction activity and some destocking in the supply chain.
EUROFER said that, having grown at rather vigorous quarterly rates in 2017 and the first half of 2018, production growth in the EU steel-using sectors slowed down in the third quarter of 2018. The growth moderation was particularly evident in the automotive sector.