SITUATION OF STEEL INDUSTRY IN EUROPEAN UNION

The aim of this article is to present the situation of the steel industry in European Union countries, and to show the impact of economic conditions on this sector. The study covers the period from 2005 to 2014. The EU steel industry underwent restructuring and was under strong influence of fluctuations caused by the economic crisis in 2009. The findings of the study indicate that steel production was strongly linked to the economic situation, measured by the value of the GDP, exports, imports and the value of household consumption. The only exception were industrial production and construction which did not indicate such a strong link. The largest steel producer in the European Union was Germany. The industry showed a high concentration because 75% of the total EU production was generated by 7 countries.