Page 9 - ITAtube Journal 3 2025

Market information
Figure 2: Selected Prices of Industrial Electrical Energy for
Companies with a consumption of more than 150 Mio.
kWh per year in 2025 in €/kWh.
Source: Frontier Economics, Statista, MediaPioneer.com
(November 2025)
availability is increasingly challenging
in some regions like the US. Technology
providers are expanding portfolios to
include green, robotic, and digital solu-
tions.
The availability of economical energy
is decisive. We monitor energy costs in
selected regions worldwide (Figure 1).
Geopolitical turbulences, regulations, and
energy sources influence electricity costs.
Prices remain volatile at roughly 15–135
€/MWh depending on country (Figure 1),
reflecting the large increase over the last
20 years and consequent economic uncer-
tainties for energy-intensive industries.
November 2025 values (Figure 2) illustrate
the challenges for our energy intensive
industry.
Europe exhibits wide price variation and
rising costs. Sweden, France, and Spain
are relatively better positioned than Italy
and Germany. Countries with substan-
tial nuclear or other low-cost base-load
energy sources retain cost advantages.
For example, US Texas electricity costs
at about 75 €/MWh are ~30% lower than
many European levels; tariffs further
enhance competitiveness for tubular
investments. The new US administration
has signaled actions to further reduce
energy costs.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia offer elec-
tricity at around 40 €/MWh or less. Unfa-
vorable European regulations or grid costs
could worsen the gap, driving relocation of
production to lower-energy-cost regions.
The energy-intensive industry’s concentra-
Figure 3: Natural Gas price development as
tion at the start of the production chain
of 30th of November 2025
risks downstream impacts in regions with
Source: Trading Economics.com
high electricity costs.
Natural gas remains a key energy source
influencing the steel-tube market. Gas
exploration and transport underpin
tubular demand. Despite CO2-reduc-
tion efforts, gas remains important for
many applications. Gas prices declined
to around 2.75 USD/MMBtu in 2025, then
strengthened to about 4.50 USD/MMBtu
(Figure 3).
Geopolitical conflicts and US market
expectations contribute to volatility.
ITAtube Journal December 2025 9