Exports of rolled metal products from the EU decreased by 2%

EUROFER announced that total exports of rolled steel from the EU to third countries decreased by 2% year on year in the first eleven months of 2019. Exports declined 3% year on year in both the first and second quarters of 2019, but this downward trend ended in the third quarter and exports showed no change from a year earlier. Customs data from September to November shows slight monthly fluctuations. Trends at the product group level show that exports of semi-finished products, ingots and slabs continued to plummet, resulting in a 24% year-on-year drop in the first eleven months of 2019. Exports of flat products increased by 4% yoy. compared to the same period last year, while product exports during the year decreased by 9%.

The top steel export destinations from the EU during the first eleven months of 2019 were Turkey, the United States and Switzerland, followed by Algeria and Mexico, similar to the top export destinations reported in previous reports. These five countries together accounted for 51% of all EU finished product exports during this period. Exports of finished goods to Algeria grew 43% year on year in the first eleven months of 2019. Similarly, exports to Turkey, the largest individual export market, increased by 14% in the first eleven months of 2019. During the same period, exports to Switzerland fell 8% year on year, while exports to the United States fell 22%.

The share of semi-finished steel products in total steel exports to the EU in the first eleven months of 2019 was almost 8%. During this period, exports of semi-finished products fell by 24% year on year. Exports of flat products accounted for 63% of total exports, while exports of long products averaged 30% in the first eleven months of 2019.