Italy reduced steel production by 12.6% y/y in March

In March 2024, Italian steelmakers reduced steel production by 12.6% compared to the same month in 2023, to 1.91 million tons. The figure increased by 5% compared to February. This is reported by SteelOrbis with reference to data from the Italian Federation of Steelworkers Federacciai.

Production of long products decreased by 11% compared to March 2023 and increased by 9.1% y/y – to 1.2 million tons. Flat products output amounted to 794 thousand tons, down 14.2% y/y and 17.4% m/m.

In January-March 2024, Italian steelmakers reduced steel production by 4.5% compared to the same period in 2023, to 5.4 million tons. Production of long products amounted to 3.1 million tons (-1.8% y/y), and flat products – 2.3 million tons (-9.1% 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.