European apparent steel consumption will decrease by 0.4% year-on-year over the full 12 months of 2019, according to a forecast by European steel association Eurofer published on Thursday July 18.
Apparent steel consumption will fall to 163 million tonnes in 2019, from 164 million tonnes a year earlier, it said. In the first quarter of the year, it declined by 2.5% year-on-year, to 42.6 million tonnes, Eurofer added.As a result of the negative trend in demand from end-users, and the mounting pressure from imports, the expected reduction in apparent steel consumption in 2019 was expected to come mainly at the expense of EU steel producers.The downtrend in EU steel demand was a result of "the continuing slump in the EU's manufacturing sector due to weakened exports and investment," the association said.And it warned that the situation in the steel industry might worsen further due to the escalation of global trade disputes and the possibility of the UK leaving the EU with no agreement in place - a so-called "no-deal Brexit." Both...