Steel and iron production plummets to below 50 percent
Local German Business News In English
German steel and iron industry production reached a record low point in April, the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis) reported on Monday.
Source: The Local: Money
With the economy as it is there is less and less businesses and private contractors who are starting to build new buildings. This leads to less and less steel and iron from being needed. Thus you have no new orders to fill so production is cut way back.