News     19.11.2025

Strengths of the European Steel Industry

Steel is one of the most important crude metals for the global economy. It’s essential in supporting the enormous global construction industry, the automotive industry and the wider transportation sector, as well as various industries around mechanical engineering and metalware. It plays a very important role within the EU.

Globally, China accounts for 55% of global crude steel production, the European continent accounts for roughly 13.8%, while the EU accounts for 6.8% of global crude steel production. Within the EU, two thirds of all crude steel production is produced by just five countries: Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Austria. However, the strength of the European market lies in its manufacturing of various steel products, with various specialised industries across the block.

The EU Steel Industry is one of the most important sources of employment in the EU. Indirectly, it supports almost 2.6 million jobs, out of which 303,520 jobs are directly within the industry. Per capita, it has the most significant impact on employment in Luxemburg, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria, and Czechia.

Despite the strong foothold of the steel industry, the EU still imports more finished steel products (about 26 million tonnes) than it exports (a little over 16 million tonnes). About half of all exports go to other European countries, Türkiye and the CIS region. High demand for crude steel and its products will likely not tip the import export balance, and it is expected that the EU will depend on imports to cover its demand.

At the same time, with construction booms in Asia, it’s likely that the supply from Asian markets might lessen or go up in price, which is expected to influence the EU steel industry positively, as it has struggled to keep up with dumped prices due to steel overproduction in countries such as China.

The future of steel in the EU lies mostly with renewable green steel, to which the EU has committed significant funds. The European Investment Bank (EIB) committed to 51 billion EUR in funds for the green transition of the EU and another 31 billion EUR for energy security. Parts of these funds will go towards the steel industry, to back it and to strengthen the production of green steel.

Under the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) this is likely to create a price equilibrium between green steel from the EU, which will not have to pay for carbon emissions, and imported steel which will have to imported at a fee, due to its environmental impact. Thus, the future of the European steel industry and the employment and opportunity it provides is on the EU’s policy radar, aligned with its values for a sustainable green transition.

Stefan Radaković