The drop in the indicator is probably a consequence of the shutdown of blast furnace No. 6 Tata Steel IJmuiden from March 2023
In 2023, the Netherlands reduced steel production by 24.9% compared to 2022, to 4.7 million tonnes. Thus, the country ranked 33rd in the world ranking of steel producing countries by WorldSteel, according to the Association .
The Netherlands has an operating steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden. Its capacity reaches 7.5 million tons of steel and 6.31 million tons of iron per year. The force majeure circumstances that befell Tata Steel in 2023 are likely to have affected the industry's performance.
At the end of March 2023, Tata Steel blast furnace No. 6 IJmuiden was suspended for maintenance. Since then, the unit's restart has been postponed several times due to technical issues and, by the end of the year, it had not resumed operations.
However, after a period of 10 months of inactivity, the unit is now in the start-up phase. On January 31, 2024, the company began the restart process and is gradually increasing pig iron production. Blast furnace No. 6 is responsible for about 40% of the company's total annual pig iron production.
Steel production in the Netherlands has declined for the second year in a row. In 2022, the country's steel industry reduced steel production by 7.2% per year, while in 2021 it increased by 9.4% per year – to 6.6 million tons.
In 2024, steel production in the Netherlands is expected to increase, as the resumption of Tata Steel IJmuiden BF No. 6 and the expected increase in demand for steel products will help increase the number.
Overall, steel production in the European Union in 2023 decreased by 7.4% compared to 2022 – to 126.3 million tons.
