New passenger car registrations in the European Union fell 15.4% year on year in June to 886,510 units, bringing the total sales for the first half of 2022 to 4.6 million units, down 14% year on year, according to European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) data released July 15. June was the 11th consecutive month of decline, with the top three markets — Germany, France and Italy — all seeing double-digit losses, although the monthly volume was up 12% month on month to the highest level since June 2021, the data showed. The auto market has been facing supply issues due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage, which in turn has impacted production. This has also somewhat impacted steel demand, with Platts assessing domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur855/mt ex-works Ruhr July 14, 2.3% higher than it was at the start of 2022, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights […]