Real steel consumption in the European Union is estimated to have fallen by slightly less than two percent in 2013, according to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2014-2015/Q1 2014 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER).
In the third quarter of 2013, the year-on-year decline in real steel consumption came to a standstill, on a par with the general trend of improving activity in several steel using sectors in the EU.
According to EUROFER, the prospects for 2014 are moderately positive. Nevertheless, the fragile recovery expected for the construction sector will dampen demand for constructional steels. Investment in machinery and equipment should overall be supportive of higher levels of end-use demand, but the process of recovery will depend strongly on the pace of improvement in business conditions.
EUROFER expects real steel consumption to grow almost two percent in 2014 and rise by almost 2.5 percent in 2015.