Globally, steel productivity has decreased. Europe’s steel federation has predicted a fall in Europe’s output in 2023. American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) stated that America’s steel output remained at 1.67 million tons in October 2022, with a fall of 9.1% than October 2021. America’s total output from day one to now is about 73 million tons with 79.2% average capacity utilization of a mill which is 4.6% lower than the 2021 calculations when an average operating capacity was 81.2%.
World Steel Association has reported steel output of 60 countries declined by 4.3% in the first nine months of 2022. Turkey’s productivity fell by 9.3%, which is the largest importer of America’s ferrous scrap. China is the largest steel producer; its output has declined by 3.2%, but in volume, it has a decline of 25.1 million metric tons. Germany, the largest steel manufacturer in Europe, has a fall of 6% in 2022 compared to 2021.
European Steel Association (EUROFER) predicted that 2023 would not show better results. Its forecast shows that the world’s steel productivity will decline in 2nd half of 2022 and 2023. World steel demand will reduce by 3.5% in 2022 and decrease by 1.9% in 2030. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the energy crisis are responsible for this decline, leading to a recession in the steel industry.
Axel Eurofer, Director General of Eurofer stated that the energy prices caused to decline in steel demand, and it will also decrease the output of other industries using steel by the end of 2022 and in the first two quarters of 2023.
Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America), Hydro (Aluminum & renewable energy producer), and Aurubis (the largest copper producer and copper recycler in Europe) have requested at the government level to halt the inflow of steel products from Russia, which is enjoying low-cost benefits instead of sanctions.
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