Smelting works produced just 1.06 million tonnes of raw iron and 1.88 million tonnes of raw steel last month. That’s 57 percent less iron and 53 percent less steel produced that the same month in 2008, Destatis reported from its Weisbaden office.
“There has not been such a strong decrease since the federal republic was founded [in 1949],” Destatis said in statement.
Iron and steel production also dropped by 14.7 percent and 9 percent respectively between March and April.
The “disastrous” numbers are due to the dramatic decrease in the auto and manufacturing industries after the worldwide financial crisis, news magazine Der Spiegel reported.
Germany’s market leader ThyssenKrupp already announced job cuts for about 5,000 contract workers recently.
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