Europe’s slow growth to keep stainless prices under pressure

MEPS’s research respondents this month highlighted that growing imports into Europe were applying increased downward pressure on prices amid continued low demand. ISSB data shows that imports were down by 1.4% year-on-year (at 787,835 tonnes) at the end of August. However, volumes rose by 4.4% year-on-year in July and by 44.7% in August.

New stainless steel consumption data published by worldstainless highlighted that these imports were destined for a market suffering a demand downturn. Its Stainless Steel Markets report projected that consumption will decline by 4.7% year-on-year in its Europe/Africa category during 2024. This follows a 19.1% consumption decline in 2023.

The reduction in Europe’s consumption of long products has been most pronounced during 2024, with the full-year forecast showing a 13.9% year-on-year decline. Hot rolled flat products are expected to end the year down by 3.9%, with cold rolled down by 3.8%.

The worldstainless data also projected a 0.4% decline in consumption in its Americas region in 2024, following a 9.4% dip last year. This year’s decline was also largely due to a 5.4% reduction in the consumption of long products.

Nonetheless, global projections indicate that stainless steel consumption will have risen by 4% year-on-year by the end of 2024. This is largely attributed to a 5.3% increase in China and a 6.5% increase in the rest of Asia. Furthermore, worldstainless forecasts that consumption will rise in all regions next year, with increases of 2.2% in Europe/Africa and 2% in Americas and declining rates of growth in China (2.6%) and the rest of Asia (5.3%).