German crude steel production was up by 3.1pc in October at 3.4mn mt for the first time since February, compared to same month in 2019, according to German Steel Federation (WV Stahl). The main contributor was growth in electrical steel production.
However, in January-October, crude steel output declined by 13.9pc to 29.1mn mt from the same months last year. During the same period, hot-rolled steel production decreased by 12.9pc to 25.6mn mt, while pig iron output and electrical steel fell by 16.6pc to 18.1mn mt and by 5.8pc to 9.6mn mt, respectively. The country’s oxygen steel production fell by 17pc to 19.4mn mt in the first ten months of 2020 over the same period in 2019.
October production
Hot-rolled steel dipped by 4.1pc in October to 3.09mn mt from October 2019 and a 0.9pc drop in its pig iron output to 2.07mn mt.
However, its electrical steel production increased by 6.6pc to 1.18mn mt from October 2019. A 1.3pc decline was seen in oxygen steel volumes to 2.22mn mt from same month last year.