Italy's crude steel production increased by 3.5% year on year to 11.5 million tonnes in the first half of 2026. According to data from the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, the pace of growth accelerated in the second quarter, with June crude steel output rising 6.1% year on year to 1.9 million tonnes.
The data showed that production growth, which stood at 1.5% in the first quarter, accelerated to 5.4% in the second quarter, indicating stronger momentum in the country's steel industry.
Hot-rolled flat products also posted their first positive performance since the beginning of the year. In June, production increased 7.7% year on year to 780,000 tonnes. Despite the monthly improvement, total flat steel production in the January-June period remained 5.4% lower than a year earlier at 4.6 million tonnes.
The growth trend in long products, which had emerged in previous months, continued. June long steel production rose 5.4% year on year to 1.1 million tonnes, while total output reached 6.9 million tonnes in the first half of the year, marking a 7.8% increase compared with the same period of 2025.
On the global front, world crude steel production recorded its first year-on-year increase since the beginning of 2026. Global output rose 1.7% year on year in June. After months of declines, China's crude steel production stabilized with a 0.4% increase, while production in the rest of the world grew by 3.2%. The strongest growth was recorded in Vietnam (+27.5%), Türkiye (+14.7%), and India (+4.5%), while production declined by 3.4% in Russia and 0.9% in South Korea.
The European Union also returned to growth in June, with crude steel production increasing 4.6% year on year. The recovery was largely driven by Germany's 9.5% and Italy's 6.1% increases in output.
Meanwhile, data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) showed that the country's industrial production index increased 1.1% year on year in May. As a result, cumulative industrial production growth for the first five months of the year reached 0.6% compared with the same period of 2025.
Growth across steel-consuming industries generally slowed. After contracting in April, the metal products sector returned to positive territory with 1% growth in May. During the same period, the automotive industry expanded by 16.1%, other transport equipment by 3.6%, electrical machinery by 3.3%, and the machinery sector by 1%, while the household appliances sector contracted by 12.4%.
The construction sector also continued to expand, albeit at a slower pace. According to ISTAT, the construction activity index remained unchanged month on month in May but increased 2.9% year on year. This marked the fourth consecutive month of annual growth, bringing cumulative growth for the January-May period to 2% compared with the same period of 2025.
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