The price of German Steel Plate fell during the week ending on September 19, 2025, as weakness in the Northern European market combined with limited trading affected any improvement of prices that took place in Southern European markets. Meanwhile, volatility in both the EU-US trade disputes and uncertainty surrounding the CBAM continued to create headwinds in domestic steel markets.
Key Takeaways:
German Steel Plate markets echoed the Northern European theme of price support weakening, as the 1.3% drop on the week indicated a lack of commercial activity and an absence of active buyers. During this time period, the widening gap between the Northern and Southern European steel markets was readily evident, as Italian markets recorded small price increases through selected activity, while German Steel Plate markets were confronted with greater demand-side pressures.
This geographic division in European Steel Plate markets indicated different regional fundamentals and inventory levels. Buyers in Southern European countries exhibited more cautious buying behavior, and Northern European markets, including Germany, faced tougher demand hurdles that invalidated the market's ability to support meaningful price stabilization in spite of low trading volumes.
Asian steel suppliers kept an active promotional push for imported Steel Plate to Southern European destinations, factoring potential CBAM costs into pricing, and any risks associated with regulations. Market players were not willing to commit to imports until future regulatory clarity can be provided by the European Commission surrounding CBAM. This was also due to relatively tight pricing spreads between Steel Plate produced locally and imported Steel Plate, diminishing incoming risks while leaving the competitive environment uncertain.
The overall import environment continued to challenge domestic Steel Plate manufacturers, with EU steel imports sustaining historically elevated market share levels despite marginal Q1 2025 reductions. Import penetration at current levels maintained consistent competitive pressure on German Steel Plate pricing, restricting producers' capacity to achieve substantial price advances even during periods of limited market activity.
Steel-consuming industries continued to contract, as first quarter 2025 output declined by 3.2%, in addition to the previous quarter's significant 4.6% decline. This ongoing weakness directly impacted Steel Plate consumption, with autos predicted to show a 4.2% annual output decline. The auto industry's struggles, coupled with developing uncertainties around EU-US trade policies generated new challenges for specialty plate segments of demand.
Activity in the construction sector showed slight signs of stabilization, with a predicted growth of 0.4%. However, this limited positive development was not enough to offset the broader industrial weakness affecting Steel Plate consumption. The interaction of automotive sector weaknesses and low growth in construction sector activity led to challenging demand conditions in German Steel Plate markets.
According to ChemAnalyst, German Steel Plate prices will be under pressure in 2025, while a significant recovery is expected only in 2026 with a recovery in economic conditions globally and clarity regarding trade policy issues. A combination of increased import competition, poor performance in steel-consuming sectors and lingering trade policy issues are expected to limit Steel Plate pricing power into 2025, although the initiation of new EU trade defense measures will offer some degree of protection for domestic steel producers.
