Crude steel output at German mills in January was 13% lower than in January 2024, reaching 2.68 million tonnes, Kallanish reads in the latest statistics of steel federation WV Stahl.

“The very cautious uptrend of the recent months has thus been interrupted,” the federation notes.

This is not only a steep year-on-year drop. The tonnage also marks a historic low. In 2020, also a weak January that saw a y-o-y drop, the tonnage was still at 3.1mt. Undercutting the 3mt threshold is therefore an alarming sign.

Last year, January production just about surpassed that mark, at 3.01mt, but the federation still expressed significant concern about the economic slowdown.

One special factor that might have influenced market activity this January were the governmental elections in February. Upcoming elections very often cause market players to hesitate with making investments and larger purchases, before they get an idea what the country’s next political direction is.

This could explain the massive drop for output of flat products and blast furnace mills, of 16%, although no actual stoppages at mills were reported. Stoppages were reported at EAF mills, with at least two – Feralpi Stahl and Riva Hennigsdorf – halting crude steel production. At EAF mills, the y-on-y drop in January was 5%.