Coronavirus and steel - no news, is that good news?

The European and American steel industries have yet to report any major incidents related to the so-called coronavirus.

According to the European Steel Association (EUROFER), the virus has not yet had a significant impact on the EU steel market. “Steel producers in the EU can supply products from their factories in the EU,” said EUROFER Steel Times International.

Meanwhile, in the US, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) commented, “Recent data suggests that the coronavirus outbreak has not affected domestic steel mills. According to AISI estimates, crude steel production increased 1.2% in the week ended February 29 from the previous week and also slightly increased from the same week last year.

For the first two months of 2020, preliminary data show that steel production increased by almost 1% over the same period last year. Steel capacity utilization increased to 82.5% last week, compared with the previous week and the same week last year. However, the outbreak poses a clear downside risk for what was already expected to be a difficult year, especially in terms of domestic steel consumption. AISI is closely monitoring the situation. "