Steel demand in the EU: forecasts and scenarios

The stainless steel market is looking with great interest at the month of September, a test-bed for measuring the resilience of demand and profitability.

From an analysis conducted by the journalist Emanuele Norsa, published on Siderweb.it, it emerges that the restart of the blast furnaces of some large groups will certainly affect the recovery of production on the one hand and demand on the other.
But at a time when the price of steel in Europe for flat products is recovering, how will the production capacity restart? And when will the effects be visible? It is unlikely that significant numbers will already be recorded in September, considering that the restarting process of the blast furnaces requires some time. However, we can hypothesize that the first results will perhaps be visible from October, thanks to the recovery of demand from strategic areas such as the automotive sector, which is expected in September. European steel production could therefore reach an average of 12 million tons next month.
As for Italy, the first week of September saw an important growth in the prices of flat products. A trend which has continued since mid-June.