German crude steel output down 2% year-on-year in September

Crude steel production in Germany fell by 2.2% year-on-year in September 2012 to 3.6 million tonnes, German steel association WV Stahl said on Wednesday October 10.

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Capacity utilisation figures rose during the month, however, the association added.

“The effective capacity utilisation increased by 5 percentage points month-on-month to 85% in September, which is significantly above the international average,” WV Stahl said.

The association also published its detailed output figures for August 2012, which showed production of hot rolled steel products down by 6.7% year-on-year to 2.76 million tonnes.

Within that total amount, the output of long products fell sharply by 12% year-on-year in August to 919,000 tonnes.

German output of flat products also declined in August by 3.9% year-on-year to 1.84 million tonnes.