In February, German steel mills experienced a second consecutive monthly increase in crude steel output compared to the previous year. The steel federation WV Stahl, in its recent report, expressed a more optimistic outlook compared to the challenging production year of 2023, which was the weakest since the financial crisis in 2009. The February report highlighted "gentle signals of stabilization," indicating a 4.4% rise in crude steel production from February 2023, reaching a total of 3.1 million tonnes. This positive trend follows a similar year-on-year increase observed in January. Despite these improvements, WV Stahl's chief economist Martin Theuringer cautioned that caution is warranted, emphasizing that the industry still faces challenges such as high electricity costs impacting electric arc furnace operations. Notably, EAF mills saw production levels in January below those of January 2021. The first two months of the year collectively saw a 4.6% year-on-year increase in crude steel output to 6.2 million tonnes, with growth observed across EAF mills as well.
