EU steel keels under pressure of soaring energy prices Report

Insight 13 October 2022

Get this report*

$1,050

You can pay by card or invoice

Share link

First name
Last name
Job Title
Company
Email
Telephone

Country

Message

Consent

Please keep me informed about Wood Mackenzie products, services and events.

Submit Category

For details on how your data is used and stored, see our Privacy Notice.

- FAQs about online orders
- Find out more about subscriptions

*Please note that this report only includes an Excel data file if this is indicated in "What's included" below

Report summary

European steelmakers idle almost 30 Million Metric Tonnes of steel capacity to rebalance the market amid a climate of soaring energy prices, high imports, and weak domestic demand. At its core, falling steel prices have squeezed margins and severely reduced competitiveness of the European steel industry. We forecast 2022 crude steel production to be 145Mt for the EU27+UK, down 9%, a substantial downgrade from our Q2 Long Term Outlook.

European steelmakers idle 30 Mt of capacity in response to unsustainable energy costs and weak demand
- A double whammy of high costs and low prices is squeezing margins and reducing competitiveness
Surge in energy prices has increased the cash cost for steelmakers with EAF mills being more exposed
Raw materials - demand destruction limits imports

Tables and charts

This report includes the following images and tables:

EU steel capacity idling, October 2022
Power and gas price surge on short supply; upcoming winter casts further worries

Share of electricity and gas in cash cost set to rise in 2022; impact higher on EAF units than BOF owing to higher share in cost structure
Average margins by steel making routes
Double whammy impact on margins