According to statistics from the German Steel Federation (WV Stahl), Germany’s crude steel production totaled 35.4 million tons in 2023, falling by 3.9% compared to the previous year, hitting the lowest since the financial crisis in 2009. The decrease was mainly due to weak demand and high electricity prices. Output of pig iron in 2023 also decreased by 0.9% year on year to 23.6 million tons.

In December last year, Germany produced around 2.6 million tons of crude steel, a month-on-month decrease of 2.5% and a year-on-year drop of 2.3%. Pig iron production for the month slid by 11% month on month and by 2.8% year on year to 1.9 million tons.

WV Stahl hoped the government could take some actions to address the problem of uncompetitive electricity prices, which have doubled since the beginning of the year.