EU steel production continues to decrease

The hot metal index increased slightly to 87.65 from 87.47 in the previous week, but remained close to its lowest levels since late January.

The recent increase was led by ArcelorMittal as well as German producer ThyssenKrupp and some other producers.

Production at US Steel's Kosice plant in Slovakia reached its lowest level since January 2022, despite the company announcing that it had not idled a blast furnace in response to lower demand.

There was a broad-based decrease in production in Germany, reflecting lower demand in Western Europe's largest consumption market. Austria's production also decreased, continuing the weak outlook seen in April. According to Worldsteel, the international steel industry organisation, Austrian production decreased by 6.5% in April. The sub-index for Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine reached a low of 0.048 at the beginning of the month, but recovered somewhat in the following weeks.