Greece’s steel industry straining under lack of demand
Greece’s steel industry has in recent years been suffering from a considerable drop in demand which is forcing production at steel plants to grind to a halt.
The country has an overcapacity of 4 million tons per year and demand never exceeded this level even when it was relatively high.
Demand has now dropped from 2.2 million tons in 2008 to just 250,000 tons.
“The more you sell, the more you lose,” an employee at a factory in central Greece told Kathimerini.
One of the county’s main steel producers, Halyvourgiki, which invested 250 million euros in equipment in recent years, has asked its staff to enter voluntary exit programs.
Other factories are also reducing or stopping production as they are unable to meet the high costs of electricity and natural gas.
