In February this year, Germany's crude steel output amounted to 3.447 million metric tons, decreasing 3.7 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, according to the information provided by the German steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl). German crude steel output had seen a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase in January, the fourth consecutive month in which a year-on-year increase was witnessed. In addition, in the first two months of 2013 Germany's crude steel output amounted to 7.032 million mt, up 1.2 percent compared to the same period 2012. On the other hand, in January Germany's total hot rolled steel product output amounted to 2.954 million metric tons, increasing 0.6 percent year on year, including 1.964 million metric tons of flat steel products - down 1.9 percent year on year, and 990,000 metric tons of long steel products - up 5.8 percent year on year.