Gross steel production at Spanish plants was likely 1.2 million mt in April, a decrease of 9.3% year on year weighed down by the Easter holiday effect, Union de Empresas Siderurgicas, or UNESID, said in a note late Tuesday.
The figure is also a decrease of 7.3% from the confirmed March volume of 1.33 million mt. The March total was the second-highest monthly total since June 2012, UNESID noted.
During March, UNESID said that it saw positive progress from the metal structure, tubes and automobile sectors. Global demand for metal structures led to exports of 41,500 mt during March, with overall production rising 14.8% year on year.
The positive performance of those sectors was, however, offset by continued negative performance from the construction sector, although the sector was approaching stability in March, the group said.
During March, Spanish demand for steel products was 1.04 million mt, up 13.4% year on year, the group said, with long product demand up 34% to 422,000 mt and flat product demand rose 14.6% to 578,000 mt. National gross production in March totaled 1.33 million mt, an increase of 2.9% year on year, with production of hot rolled steel up 3.9% in the month to 1.28 million mt.
Total product sales in March were 1.32 million mt, up 14.8% year on year, led by a 21.7% increase in foreign sales to 776,000 mt, of which 353,000 mt went to the European Union, up 30.5% year on year.
Of the total sales, 834,000 mt was long product and 446,000 flat product, up 15.6% and 10.5%, respectively from March 2013. Meanwhile, a total of 713,000 mt was imported during the month, up 2.7% year on year the group said.
