Outokumpu began a review of stainless steel long products business and it will be finalized in 2020. The firm will investigate business opportunities for consolidation within the stainless long products markets.

Outokumpu's long products covered wire rod, drawn wire, bars, semi-finished long products and rebar.

In 2019, Outokumpu's long products business decreased to a net sales of €642 million, showing that the steel market was weak in 2019 for Outokumpu.

According to statistics, Outokumpu's stainless long products deliveries went down by 20% because of lower external and internal deliveries.

In Europe, steel demand was still in bad shape due to weaker end-user steel demand, especially for the automotive industry.