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HIPH - polish steel industry
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Polish Steel Industry 2022
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PPS 2022
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Dear Readers,
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The economic slowdown in 2019, the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 made us enter 2021 in bad condition. In the European Union, the steel industry has close 17 million tons of crude steel production capacity and over 2 million tons in Poland.
Hope has appeared, thanks to which man can overcome various challenges. More and more pharmaceutical companies announced the start of production of COVID-19 vaccines, on a massive scale, and the majority of the population accepted the regimes of social behavior.
After a few weeks of the New Year, it turned out that the economic recovery had a solid basis, order books were growing, steel mills restored decommissioned installations. The temporary imbalance between supply and demand triggered a predictable mechanism. Product prices bounced back from the bottom reached in the second and third quarters of 2020 very dynamically. Unfortunately, for us, the prices of raw materials for steel production and the prices of energy utilities began to rise rapidly.
The post-pandemic rebound was visible all over the world. Steel production increased by 4% and amounted to 1 billion 909 million tons (a new record for crude steel production).
In the European Union, production growth amounted to 15%, reaching the level of 152 million tons (but below 2019 - 157 million tons).
In Poland, the increase was only 8% y/y. Only, because production in 2021 was lower by 0.5 million tonnes compared to 2019 and as much as 1.7 million tonnes compared to 2018.
On the other hand, the consumption of steel products reached a record level of 15.3 million tons. Importers brought to Polish a record amount of steel products - 13.3 million tons, including imports from third countries of 4 million 234 thousand tons with dynamics of 42% y/y. As you can see, importers willingly put their hand to the development of metallurgy in such countries as
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, India, Moldova, Turkey, South Korea, Serbia, China, Vietnam.
The steel industry faces an enormous challenge of decarbonisation. "Green transformation" is a necessity and I do not know a metallurgist in Poland who would contest this idea. It's not about "if"but "how" to achieve it. Is it possible to assign new tasks without analyzing the effects of previous decisions? Apparently you can - because they are. We do not expect the Polish Government
or the European Commission to subsidize us for every ton of steel - we expect it not to add further cost items to us, taking away international competitiveness. So what if the intentions are noble if the fruits are poor and sour.
Everyone wants to go to Heaven after death, but no one wants to die?
The metallurgical community, widely understood, has been paying attention for years to the increasing stretch between the development of the Polish economy, its steel intensity and own steel production. It turned out once again that the truth does not work just by proving it. Truth is unattractive and does not have enough strength to free us from lies and illusions.
Metallurgy, energy and capital-intensive industry likes stable development and predictability. Both of these values are increasingly rare.
For several decades, with increasing intensity, there has been a war in various forms for access to resources. Their possession will be decisive for the "new world order". The recent assault on a sovereign European state, extremely brutal methods of its conduct: genocide, deportations, demolition of cities and workplaces is a confirmation of fanatical ideologies of domination.
Putting this publication in your hands, I believe that this is the moment when the power of imagination and sense of responsibility will reverse this downward, for several years, trend of steel production in Poland.
Can you imagine our lives without steel? ... |
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Stefan Dzienniak
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President of the Board |
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Polish Steel Association
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