EU buyers increase finished steel imports by 23.6% in January
Europe
In January 2025, European buyers showed higher demand for finished steel products from third countries amid attractive offers, but also expecting higher trade barriers in the region and worldwide. EU imports rose by 15.1% in the first month of 2025 on the year, to 4.6 million tonnes (Mt).
Turkey remained the largest exporter to the region, supplying around 797,000t in January this year, which is a 48.6% increase compared to the same month last year. China reached the second position on the list of top suppliers to Europe, with more than 580,000t of finished steel products delivered to this market.
Asia
Interest in Chinese semi-finished products continued growing, with 1.5Mt exported in January-February this year, against 210,900t supplied a year ago. Shipments of finished steel from China rose in the first two months just by 6.7% year-on-year, to 17Mt against a 22.7% rise achieved in 2024 due to increasing global protectionism.
| Country/Segment | Product | Period | Volume, Mt | Y-o-y change, % | Jan-Dec 2024, Mt | Y-o-y change, % | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
China | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Jan-Feb-25 | 166.3 | -1.5 | 1,005.1 | -1.7 | NBS |
| Production | Finished steel | Jan-Feb-25 | 224.1 | +4.7 | 1,399.7 | +1.1 | NBS |
| Exports | Finished steel | Jan-Feb-25 | 17.0 | +6.7 | 110.7 | +22.7 | GACC |
| Exports | Semis | Jan-Feb-2 | 1.5 | +626.7 | 6.3 | +93.4 | ISSB |
| Vietnam | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Jan-25 | 1.9 | +2.5 | 22.1 | +14.9 | WSA |
| Exports | Steel | Feb-25 | 0.8 | -16.7 | - | - | GDVC |
| Exports | Steel | Jan-25 | 0.9 | -19.6 | 12.6 | +13.5 | GDVC |
| Imports | Steel | Feb-25 | 1.6 | +33.8 | - | - | GDVC |
Türkiye | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Jan-25 | 3.2 | -1.4 | 36.9 | +9.4 | TCUD/WSA |
| Exports | Steel | Jan-24 | 1.1 | +23.0 | 13.4 | +27.6 | TCUD/ISSB |
| Imports | Steel | Jan-24 | 1.7 | +24.9 | 17.4 | +1.7 | TCUD/ISSB |
| Germany | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Jan-25 | 2.68 | -12.7 | 37.2 | +5.2 | WV Stahl |
| Production | HR steel | Jan-25 | 2.5 | -8.7 | 31.6 | +3.0 | WV Stahl |
| Imports from non-EU | Finished steel | Jan-25 | 0.04 | -2.4 | 1.0 | -8.7 | Eurostat/ISSB |
| Italy | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Feb-25 | 1.8 | -0.8 | 20.0 | -5.0 | Federacciai Federacciai Federacciai |
| Production | Longs | Feb-25 | 1.1 | -6.0 | 11.7 | -0.2 | |
| Production | Flats | Feb-25 | 0.8 | +14.3 | 8.6 | -9.7 | |
| Imports from non-EU | Finished steel | Jan-25 | 1.0 | +7.7 | 7.3 | -3.5 | Eurostat/ISSB |
| EU | |||||||
| Imports from non-EU | Finished steel | Jan-25 | 4.6 | +23.6 | 31.9 | +6.6 | Eurostat/ISSB |
| USA | |||||||
| Production | Crude steel | Jan-25 | 6.6 | +1.2 | 79.5 | -2.4 | WSA |
| Imports | Steel | Jan-25 | 2.8 | +20.5 | 26.2 | +2.5 | USCB |
| Global | Crude steel | Jan-25 | 151.4 | -4.4 | 1,839.5 | -0.9 | WSA |