UNESID: Spain produces 18% less steel in 2020 due to pandemic
According to data published by the Spanish steel union UNESID, the Spanish steel industry produced only 11.1 million tons of crude steel in 2020, 18% less than in 2019, the worst performance since the financial crisis in 2008.
Andrés Barceló, the director-general of UNESID explained that the fall in steel production was due to the pandemic because it cut the activities of all steel-consuming sectors during the past year.
The beginning of this year 2021 is being affected by the effects of the Filomena storm in Spain, the sharp increase in energy prices, and the continuous increase of raw material prices that occurs throughout the world.
However, Barceló indicated that the Spanish steel industry trusts that the relaxation of restrictive measures, as a result of the vaccination process, will allow a recovery of activity in all steel-consuming sectors.
