European countries produced 174.4mn mt of crude steel in 2019, down by 4pc from 181mn mt produced in 2018. Germany was the highest crude steel producer with 39.7mn mt produced in 2019, according to World Steel Association (WSA).
Germany’s crude steel production in 2019 was 39.7mn mt, down by 6.5pc from 42.4mn mt produced in 2018. Italy’s crude steel production fell by 5.2pc to 23.2mn mt in 2019 from 24.5mn mt produced in 2018. The escalating trade war between US-China and Europe’s failure to strike the Brexit deal affected trade relations led to a deteriorated business sentiment and low investment growth in most countries.
In the beginning of 2019, deliveries between EU markets fell by 4pc from the year prior and imports from developing countries also decreased to 10mn mt.
In 2019, France’s production of crude steel fell by 6.1pc to 14.5mn mt from 15.4mn mt produced in 2018. Spain’s production fell by 5.2pc to 13.6mn mt. In Poland, production dipped by 10.8pc to 9.1mn mt from 10.2mn mt produced in 2018. Steelmakers in Europe cut down production with a sluggish demand for steel in the markets.
Crude steel production in Ukraine fell by 1.2pc to 20.8mn mt from 21.1mn mt produced in the prior year. Belgium produced of 7.9mn mt steel, down by 0.9pc from 8mn mt produced in the prior year. Steel consumption fell in 2019 as manufacturing sector reduced its investments.
Romania’s crude steel production fell by 2.1pc to 3.5mn mt in 2019. Production of crude steel in Czech Republic fell by 7.6pc to 4.6mn mt in 2019 from 4.9mn mt in 2018. Belarus’ total crude steel production, however, was up by 8.5pc to 2.7mn mt from 2.5mn mt in 2018. Steel market in Europe are yet to stabilise as global tensions threatens overseas trade. A slowdown in the automotive sector in Europe dragged total consumption of steel down.
Austria’s crude steel production increased by 7.8pc to 7.4mn mt from 6.9mn mt produced in 2018. The UK’s crude steel production fell by 0.6pc to 7.2mn mt in 2019 from 7.3mn mt produced in the prior year. Industrial activities slowed down in 2019 on global cues which affected trade and investment. Exports too reduced as the US government put tariffs on goods imported from the European countries. European countries responded by levying similar tariffs on products from the US.
The Netherlands produced a total of 6.7mn mt down by 2.3pc in 2019 from the prior year. Slovak republic produced 5.3mn mt in 2019, up by 2pc from 5.2mn mt produced in the year prior. In Sweden, production of crude steel in 2019 grew by 1.4pc to 4.7mn mt from the prior year. Crude steel production in Finland fell by 16.2pc in 2019 to 3.5mn mt from 4.1mn mt produced the year prior.
Top 3 countries according to crude steel growth
| Crude Steel Production | 2019 | 2018 | Change |
| Belarus | 2.7 | 2.5 | 8% |
| Austria | 7.4 | 6.9 | 7% |
| Slovakia | 5.3 | 5.2 | 2% |
Bottom 3 countries according to crude steel growth
| Crude Steel Production | 2019 | 2018 | Change |
| Finland | 3.5 | 4.1 | -15% |
| Poland | 9.1 | 10.2 | -11% |
| Germany | 39.7 | 42.4 | -6% |
Austria, Slovak Republic, Sweden and Belarus were the only countries where crude steel production grew while all other countries production de-grew.