Steel prices in Germany — what was actually paid in 2024

Germany buys steel the way its industry consumes it: hot-rolled coil in bulk to feed its own rolling and coating lines, and high-specification coated and precision material where the domestic mills do not cover the grade. That is why German import unit values sit above the European middle without the country ever being the most expensive place to buy.

Every figure here comes from Germany's own customs declarations: value divided by net mass, nothing modelled. How it is done and where it breaks down →

• 22,350,745 tsteel imported (2024)
• 26,990,066 tsteel exported
• Net exporter4,639,321 t surplus

Imports

Exports

What the Germany numbers say

• At the top of the German import list sits welded tube, circular, non-alloy at 1,312 USD per tonne and at the bottom wire rod at 762 — 1.7× between them, which in a market this specification-driven is a statement about quality mix rather than about bargaining.
• One heading, Hot-rolled coil and plate, carries 30 % of the inbound tonnage; everything else is a rounding difference against it.
• The lane structure is spread: Belgium supplies 38 % of the five largest sources on that heading.
• German trade in welded tube, circular, non-alloy runs at 1,312 USD paid against 2,092 received, a 780 USD spread that reflects how much finishing happens inside the country.

Buying and selling into Germany

• Germany is the deepest steel market in Europe and a net exporter of coated and finished product while importing hot-rolled coil — the pattern of a country with more rolling and coating capacity than primary production.
• Import unit values here run above the European average because the mix is weighted towards high-specification material: automotive-grade coated sheet, pressure plate and precision tube rather than commodity coil.
• Deliveries arrive DAP by truck from Türkiye and the Balkans in six to nine days, or by sea to Hamburg, Bremerhaven and the ARA ports for container and breakbulk cargo.
• EN 10204 3.1 certification is expected on every order and CE marking under EN 1090 is mandatory for structural components, which adds documentation time rather than cost.

Main supplying countries

Hot-rolled coil and plate (HS 7208)

Coated sheet (galvanized and painted) (HS 7210)

Cold-rolled sheet (HS 7209)

Hot-rolled bar (HS 7214)

Other markets