EUROFER has lowered its forecast for steel consumption in the EU for 2026

The European Steel Association (EUROFER) expects apparent steel consumption in the EU to rise by 0.1% year-on-year in 2026, to 135 million tonnes. This is according to the association’s latest report – Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2026–2027 (third quarter).

The previous forecast in the review published in June was 0.4% year-on-year.

The Association expects a more significant improvement in this figure in 2027, forecasting that demand will grow by 2.3% year-on-year over the period, to 138 million tonnes.

According to EUROFER, apparent steel consumption in the EU rose by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year, reaching 34.4 million tonnes.

As stated in the review, industrial demand is recovering only slightly. Production in steel-using sectors is forecast to grow by 1.5% in 2026 following two years of decline. The recovery remains uneven. Construction and engineering will drive growth, whilst the automotive sector is expected to contract by a further 0.9% year-on-year. A broader recovery in demand is not expected until 2027.

Steel production in the EU fell by 2.9% year-on-year last year, to a record low of 125.8 million tonnes. In the first five months of this year, the figure fell by 1% year-on-year.

It should be noted that, according to EUROFER, in the first half of this year the European Union reduced its exports of steel to third countries by 20% year-on-year. Exports of finished steel products fell significantly (-18% year-on-year) due to a decline in shipments of both flat and long products — by 19% and 15% year-on-year respectively.

The main destinations for exports from the EU in January–June were the United Kingdom, Turkey, the United States, Switzerland and India. Together, these countries accounted for 64% of total exports of finished steel products from the bloc.