Italy increased steel production by 2.6% y/y in March

In March 2023, Italian steel enterprises increased the volume of steel production by 2.6% compared to the same month in 2022 – up to 2.18 million tons. SteelOrbis informs about it with the reference to data from the Italian association of steel producers Federacciai.

Compared to February 2023, Italian steelmakers increased steel production by 15.1% in March.

The production of flat rolled products in the country in March 2023 decreased by 7.1% compared to March 2022 – to 917 thousand tons. The production of graded rolled products amounted to 1.3 million tons, which is 3.3% more on an annual basis.

In January-March 2023, Italy reduced steel production by 6% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 5.63 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, steel enterprises of Italy in 2022 reduced steel production by 11.5% compared to the same period of the previous year – to 21.6 million tons. In 2022 the production of graded rolled products in the country decreased by 12% y/y – to 12.03 million tons, flat rolled products – by 13.8% y/y, to 9.55 million tons.

According to the WorldSteel Association, steel production in EU countries in 2022 fell by 10.5% year-on-year – to 136.7 million tons. In general, steel production in the world fell by 4.3% y/y – to 1.83 billion tons. During the past year, the situation in European steel industry was affected by such factors as high prices for energy resources, high volatility of prices and demand, a decrease in steel exports from the EU. They were partly caused by the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

At the same time, from the beginning of 2023, the situation in the industry is improving. Steel demand is gradually recovering, and energy prices have stabilized. This allowed producers to raise product prices and start restoring suspended capacity. The indicators of the industry are still far from last year’s, but the monthly dynamics of steel production is gradually increasing.