In April this year, Germany's crude steel output amounted to 3.6 million metric tons, decreasing 7.7 percent from the previous month and down 5.5 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, according to the information provided by the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). In the first four months of 2012, Germany's crude steel production totaled 14.45 million metric tons, falling by five percent as compared to the same period of 2011.
On the other hand, in March this year Germany's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 3.45 million metric tons, decreasing two percent year on year, including 2.25 million metric tons of flat steel products - down 3.7 percent year on year, and 1.2 million metric tons of long steel products - up 1.3 percent year on year. In the first quarter of the year, the country's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 9.5 million metric tons, decreasing 3.8 percent compared to Q1 2011, including 6.3 million metric tons of flat steel products - down 7.1 percent year on year, and 3.3 million metric tons of long steel products - up 3.2 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, according WV Stahl in the first quarter of last year, rolled steel orders in Germany rose by 12 percent quarter on quarter, reaching 10.3 million metric tons, down 6.25 percent year on year.
In the first quarter this year, orders from Germany's domestic market fell 11.6 percent year on year, totaling 6.34 million metric tons, while foreign orders rose by 3.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2011, amounting to 4 million metric tons. Meanwhile, in March this year, the order books in Germany amounted to 8.7 million mt, increasing by seven percent over the last month of the previous quarter (December 2011) and down six percent year on year.