While German steel production faced a 6.4% dip in 2022, its resilience shone through with a recovery to 36.2 million tonnes in 2023, powered by the automotive sector's resurgence and landmark outputs from giants like ThyssenKrupp.
Key Takeaways
- Germany's crude steel production reached 35.7 million metric tons in 2022, a decrease of 6.4% from 2021
- In 2023, German steel production totaled 36.2 million tonnes, up 1.4% year-over-year driven by automotive recovery
- ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe produced 10.8 million tonnes of crude steel in FY 2022/2023
- Apparent steel consumption in Germany was 37.8 million tonnes in 2022, down 5.2% from 2021
- In 2023, German steel use totaled 38.9 million tonnes, up 2.9% year-on-year
- Automotive sector steel consumption was 12.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Germany's steel exports volume was 11.2 million tonnes in 2022, down 8.1% from prior year
- Steel imports into Germany reached 20.3 million tonnes in 2023, up 4.7%
- Flat products exports from Germany totaled 7.8 million tonnes in 2022
- Steel employment in Germany stood at 152,000 direct jobs in 2022
- Total steel industry jobs including indirect reached 450,000 in 2023
- ThyssenKrupp Steel employed 26,500 people in 2022/2023
- Steel revenue in Germany was €45.6 billion in 2022
- EBITDA for German steel producers averaged €2.1 billion in 2023
- ThyssenKrupp Steel sales revenue: €14.2 billion in FY 2022/2023
Germany's steel industry saw fluctuating production and consumption alongside high CO2 emissions in recent years.
Consumption
- Apparent steel consumption in Germany was 37.8 million tonnes in 2022, down 5.2% from 2021
- In 2023, German steel use totaled 38.9 million tonnes, up 2.9% year-on-year
- Automotive sector steel consumption was 12.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Construction industry steel demand reached 10.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Mechanical engineering steel consumption was 8.7 million tonnes in 2022
- Domestic appliances sector used 2.1 million tonnes of steel in 2023
- Steel consumption per capita in Germany was 452 kg in 2022
- Flat products consumption totaled 24.5 million tonnes in 2023
- Long products domestic use was 13.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Steel for energy sector infrastructure consumed 1.8 million tonnes in 2023
- Packaging steel consumption was 3.6 million tonnes in 2022
- Steel tube consumption in machinery hit 2.9 million tonnes in 2023
- Shipbuilding steel demand was 0.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Railway infrastructure steel use totaled 1.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Electrical equipment steel consumption reached 1.5 million tonnes in 2022
- Furniture industry steel input was 0.8 million tonnes in 2023
- Agricultural machinery steel demand was 1.1 million tonnes in 2022
- Chemical plant construction steel use hit 0.9 million tonnes in 2023
- Medical equipment steel consumption totaled 0.3 million tonnes in 2022
- Sports equipment steel demand was 0.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Steel consumption intensity in automotive fell to 650 kg per vehicle in 2022
- Construction steel reinforcement bar use was 4.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Structural steel sections consumption reached 3.8 million tonnes in 2022
- Steel sheet piling demand hit 0.6 million tonnes in 2023
- Pre-painted steel coil consumption was 2.3 million tonnes in 2022
- Quenched and tempered steel plate use totaled 1.4 million tonnes in 2023
- Tool steel consumption in manufacturing was 0.5 million tonnes in 2022
Consumption Interpretation
While Germany's steel consumption shows a nation still firmly welded to its industrial core—with enough steel for cars, buildings, and machinery to make a small planet feel sturdy—the slight annual wobbles in tonnage suggest even the mightiest engine can occasionally idle while waiting for the next big project.
Employment
- Steel employment in Germany stood at 152,000 direct jobs in 2022
- Total steel industry jobs including indirect reached 450,000 in 2023
- ThyssenKrupp Steel employed 26,500 people in 2022/2023
- Salzgitter Group had 20,000 employees in steel sector in 2023
- Average wage in German steel industry was €58,000 annually in 2022
- Apprenticeships in steel: 5,200 positions filled in 2023
- Female workforce share in steel rose to 18% in 2022
- R&D staff in steel industry numbered 12,000 in 2023
- Shift workers accounted for 65% of steel production employees in 2022
- Steel jobs in North Rhine-Westphalia: 85,000 in 2023
- Decline in steel employment: -2.1% or 3,200 jobs lost in 2022
- Union membership rate in steel: 72% in 2023
- Overtime hours averaged 150 per employee annually in 2022
- Part-time workers: 8% of steel workforce in 2023
- Engineers in steel R&D: 8,500 in 2022
- Training expenditure per employee: €2,800 in 2023
- Migrant workers share: 22% in steel industry 2022
- Age average of steel workers: 45.2 years in 2023
- Sick days per employee: 11.4 annually in 2022
- Safety incident rate: 2.1 per million hours worked in 2023
- Turnover rate in steel: 4.2% in 2022
Employment Interpretation
Germany's steel industry stands at a pivotal, gritty crossroads, where every sturdy €58,000-a-year job is underpinned by a loyal, 72% unionized workforce, yet haunted by a greying average age of 45.2, a stubborn 2.1% annual decline, and the relentless clang of 65% of its production heroes working shifts to keep its 450,000-job ecosystem humming while trying to attract new blood into its fiery heart.
Financials
- Steel revenue in Germany was €45.6 billion in 2022
- EBITDA for German steel producers averaged €2.1 billion in 2023
- ThyssenKrupp Steel sales revenue: €14.2 billion in FY 2022/2023
- Salzgitter AG revenue from steel: €11.8 billion in 2023
- Average steel selling price: €850 per tonne in 2022
- Capex in German steel: €1.9 billion in 2023
- Net profit for steel division: €450 million in 2022
- Debt ratio average: 45% for steel firms in 2023
- Energy costs share of production: 28% in 2022
- Raw material costs: €22.4 billion for steel industry in 2023
- Flat products segment revenue: €28.7 billion in 2022
- Export revenue contribution: 35% of total steel sales in 2023
- R&D expenditure: €850 million in 2022
- Dividend payouts by steel firms: €320 million in 2023
- Cash flow from operations: €3.2 billion in 2022
- Inventory value: €8.1 billion end of 2023
- Tax payments by steel industry: €1.4 billion in 2022
- Market cap of listed steel firms: €15.6 billion in 2023
- Cost per tonne produced: €720 in 2022
- Subsidy receipts: €450 million for green steel in 2023
Financials Interpretation
Germany's steel industry shows a formidable €45.6 billion in revenue is being squeezed by energy and raw material costs consuming over half its income, leaving it with modest profits, heavy debt, and a €1.9 billion bet on its future that looks more like a necessity than a choice.
Production
- Germany's crude steel production reached 35.7 million metric tons in 2022, a decrease of 6.4% from 2021
- In 2023, German steel production totaled 36.2 million tonnes, up 1.4% year-over-year driven by automotive recovery
- ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe produced 10.8 million tonnes of crude steel in FY 2022/2023
- Salzgitter AG's crude steel output was 6.8 million tonnes in 2023, reflecting 82% capacity utilization
- ArcelorMittal Hamburg produced 2.3 million tonnes of slabs in 2022
- Germany's flat steel production volume was 22.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Long steel products production in Germany hit 12.1 million tonnes in 2023
- Dillinger Hütte produced 1.9 million tonnes of heavy plate in 2022
- Georgsmarienhütte GmbH's steel production reached 1.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Germany's electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production share was 28% of total output in 2022
- Blast furnace-based crude steel production in Germany was 26.5 million tonnes in 2022
- Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann produced 4.1 million tonnes of steel in 2023
- Germany's seamless tubes production volume was 1.8 million tonnes in 2022
- Wire rod production in Germany totaled 3.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Germany's section steel output was 4.5 million tonnes in 2022
- Heavy plate production excluding universal plate was 3.7 million tonnes in 2023
- German steel industry's hot-rolled coil production reached 15.6 million tonnes in 2022
- Cold-rolled steel sheet production in Germany was 8.9 million tonnes in 2023
- Galvanized steel production volume hit 7.2 million tonnes in 2022
- Electrical steel production in Germany totaled 1.1 million tonnes in 2023
- Stainless steel melt output was 2.4 million tonnes in 2022
- High-strength steel production reached 4.8 million tonnes in 2023
- Germany's rail steel production was 0.9 million tonnes in 2022
- Forged steel products output totaled 0.7 million tonnes in 2023
- Continuous casting ratio for steel in Germany was 99.2% in 2022
- Secondary metallurgy coverage rate was 95.8% of crude steel in 2023
- Germany's pig iron production was 25.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Direct reduced iron (DRI) production remained negligible at under 0.1 million tonnes in 2023
- Scrap input in steel production was 14.2 million tonnes in 2022, representing 40% of metallic charge
- Coke consumption in German blast furnaces was 4.8 million tonnes in 2023
Production Interpretation
Despite a tentative automotive-led recovery, Germany's steel industry remains a masterfully complex and energy-hungry balancing act, where blast furnaces still dominate but scrap-hungry electric arcs are gaining a crucial, if still modest, foothold.
Sustainability
- CO2 emissions from steel production totaled 78.5 million tonnes in 2022
- CO2 intensity per tonne of steel: 2.2 tonnes in 2023, down 3% YoY
- Renewable energy share in steel plants: 25% in 2022
- Hydrogen pilot projects: 3 operational in 2023
- Scrap recycling rate: 85% in German steelmaking 2022
- Water usage per tonne: 4.2 cubic meters in 2023
- Dust emissions reduced to 0.15 kg per tonne in 2022
- NOx emissions: 120 grams per tonne of steel in 2023
- SOx emissions cut by 12% to 45 grams/tonne in 2022
- Decarbonization investment: €2.5 billion committed by 2030 in 2023
- EAF capacity expansion planned to 40% by 2030 announced 2022
- Biodiversity projects: 15 sites restored in 2023
- Energy efficiency gain: 1.8% improvement in 2022
- Circular economy steel recycling: 95% recyclability rate in 2023
- Carbon capture utilization storage (CCUS) pilot: 100,000 tonnes captured 2022
- Green steel production share: 5% in 2023
- Waste recycling rate: 98% in steel plants 2022
- EU ETS costs for steel: €1.2 billion in 2023
- Life cycle emissions assessment: 1.9 tonnes CO2e per tonne cradle-to-gate 2022
Sustainability Interpretation
While Germany's steel industry is actively scrubbing its smokestacks and chasing hydrogen rainbows, the stubborn reality remains that each tonne still leaves a nearly two-tonne carbon shadow, proving that even an 85% recycling champion has a very long and expensive road to true green steel.
Trade
- Germany's steel exports volume was 11.2 million tonnes in 2022, down 8.1% from prior year
- Steel imports into Germany reached 20.3 million tonnes in 2023, up 4.7%
- Flat products exports from Germany totaled 7.8 million tonnes in 2022
- Long products imports were 9.1 million tonnes in 2023
- Germany exported steel worth €12.4 billion in 2022
- Top export destination for German steel was France with 1.8 million tonnes in 2023
- Steel imports from China to Germany were 2.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Net exporter status: Germany exported 2.9 million tonnes net steel in 2023
- Seamless tubes exports reached 1.1 million tonnes in 2022
- Heavy plate imports totaled 1.7 million tonnes from non-EU in 2023
- German steel exports to USA were 0.9 million tonnes in 2022
- Imports of hot-rolled coil hit 4.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Wire rod exports from Germany were 1.4 million tonnes in 2022
- Steel scrap exports totaled 5.6 million tonnes in 2023
- Finished steel products trade surplus was €3.2 billion in 2022
- Exports to UK post-Brexit fell to 1.2 million tonnes in 2023
- Cold-rolled sheet imports reached 2.8 million tonnes in 2022
- Stainless steel exports were 1.3 million tonnes in 2023
- Pipe and tube imports from Turkey were 0.7 million tonnes in 2022
- German steel re-exports accounted for 15% of total exports in 2023
- Trade with Poland: 1.5 million tonnes exported in 2022
- Anti-dumping duties impacted 0.4 million tonnes of imports in 2023
Trade Interpretation
The numbers paint a picture of a German steel industry that, like a meticulous but weary engineer, is still running a quality export workshop but is increasingly propping open its own back door to a flood of cheaper imports.
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