Energy efficiency trends in steel industry

There is an apparent deterioration of energy efficiency in steel production since 2007 in 10 EU countries, as shown by the increase in the specific consumption per ton of steel: this is mainly a result of the deep recession in this sector after the financial crisis. At EU level, the specific consumption of steel has slightly increased since 2007 (+0.8%).
The specific consumption of steel has however regularly decreased in 2 countries (Poland and Italy).

The energy performance of the steel industry should be considered in relation to the share of electric steel, the less energy intensive process: the higher this ratio, the lower the specific consumption. In Slovenia and Portugal, all the steel is produced from the electric process, while in Italy and Spain, the share of this process is around 70-85%, which explains the lower specific consumption. In Slovakia and Czechia, where electric steel share is lower than 10%, the specific consumption is 4 times higher than in Portugal.