Italy reduced steel production by 10.6% y/y in April

Italian steelmakers reduced steel production by 10.6% in April 2024 compared to the same month in 2023, to 1.7 million tons. The figure fell by 11% compared to March. Kallanish reports this with reference to data from the Italian Federation of Steelworkers Federacciai.

Production of long products for the month decreased by 5% compared to April 2023 and by 18.2% m/m – to 982 thousand tons. Flat products output amounted to 714 thousand tons, down 13.7% y/y and 10.1% m/m.

In January-April 2024, Italian steelmakers reduced steel production by 6% compared to the same period in 2023, to 7.1 million tons. Production of long products amounted to 4.1 million tons (-2.2% y/y), and flat products – 3 million tons (-9.9% y/y).

In 2023, Italian steelmakers reduced steel production by 2.5% compared to 2022, to 21.06 million tons. The decline in steel production was driven by a decline in global demand for steel products and high energy costs.

Long products production for the year amounted to 11.68 million tons, down 2.9% compared to 2022, and flat products production amounted to 9.54 million tons (-0.1% y/y).

In total, the EU produced 126.3 million tons of steel in 2023, down 7.4% y/y. In December, the EU countries increased steel production by 2.7% compared to December 2022 – up to 9.1 million tons.

The European Commission recently approved a €550 million Italian scheme to support investments in the use of hydrogen in industrial processes. The Italian government will provide this support to industries that are difficult to decarbonize from a technological and economic point of view, such as steel, paper, glass, and others. The funds will be available until the end of 2025 and will be used to replace fossil fuels with green hydrogen.