According to the statistics, July production totalled 2.958 million tonnes, down only 0.5% y-o-y. However, oxygen line output increased by 6% to 2.264 million tonnes, while output from EAF plants decreased by 17% to 694,000 tonnes. There was talk of a "dangerous downward trend" for EAF plants in particular, with lower emissions but relatively higher costs due to high national electricity prices.
According to sources, the slowdown in the construction sector is adversely affecting the country's five rebar mills, which will allegedly suspend production this summer.
Although activity was thought to be better at EAF plants serving advanced bar grades, the latest half-year figures showed the opposite. Swiss Steel, which has four mills in Germany under Deutsche Edelstahlwerke (DEW), saw production decrease by 20 per cent in the first half, largely due to lower sales in the automotive sector.
This was in contrast to the automotive activities of the oxygen line mills, which supply strip products, which have recently recovered relatively well and therefore saw a y-o-y increase in production. Nevertheless, activities for specialised bar grades for combustion engines suffered due to the increase in the production of electric cars, which require fewer steel components, such as those produced by Swiss Steel/DEW.
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