27 August 2025 – If you listen to Europe’s steelmakers, the blast furnace has already gone cold. But why, then, do political statements not match the actual market behavior of domestic steel groups?
EU Steel: Is it really just politics that makes the market look bad?
According to Europe s steelmakers, the blast furnace is already shut down. But if all signs point to the downfall of the domestic steel industry, why is a German steelmaker buying up important divisions of another company? And this right after publicly declaring in dramatic fashion that the steel industry is in crisis and, Right now, we don’t know what to do either.
Steel group on a major shopping spree
In fact, the German group had already gone on a shopping tour last year: acquiring a fully integrated EAF stainless steel plant and a scrap-focused recycling company. Now, parts of another German stainless steelmaker previously bought up by investors are to be added. As the group recently announced, it is taking over the hot rolling mill for large rolled steel dimensions as well as machining and heat treatment facilities for highly complex open-die forged components.
Expansion course at odds with political messaging
This aggressive expansion strategy during what are supposedly such economically dire times for steel simply doesn’t match the statements of the head of the group’s steel division. In December, she told the German magazine Focus: ‘I don’t want to tell my employees: Thank you for your great work and your performance. That’s it now.’ But she also admitted: ‘Right now, we don’t know what to do either.’
And this is just one example of how the constant lamenting of Europe’s steelmakers in front of media and politicians does not align with their actual business behavior at home. It also seriously calls into question their demands for more trade defence measures and subsidies undermining their credibility in the long term.
EU must import up to 40% of its steel needs
In June 2025, the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC), in its ‘Analysis of the EU Steel supply chain: current trends and circularity opportunities’, found that despite substantial production capacities and strong industrial capabilities, the EU remains heavily dependent on imports of raw materials and steel products.
For iron ore, 75% of demand must be met from outside the EU. For certain steel products, imports cover up to 40% of annual demand the most affected being stainless steel. One of the reasons is clear and was already emphasized by the JRC in 2024: Europe’s production capacity for stainless steel has been severely limited for more than a decade.
All of this casts a heavy shadow over the claims of domestic steelmakers and the European Commission. Within the EU, there are even growing voices saying that trade protection measures are purely political in nature and so far have brought no real benefit to the domestic economy. In the end, there may only be one real winner: the European Commission itself, which can use the resulting revenues to fill its strained coffers.
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