Italian steel production continues to decrease

In the first five months of the year, production decreased by 7.9% y-o-y to 9.5 million tonnes.

Flat steel production decreased by 6.3% y-o-y to 817,000 tonnes last month and by 11.6% y-o-y to 4.1 million tonnes in January-May period. Long product output decreased by 1.5 per cent to 1.1mt and 6.9 per cent to 5.3mt, respectively.

Both flat and long product markets are suffering from the sharp decrease in end-use consumption. Long cargo producers are implementing weekly shutdowns while prices continue to decrease.

Sources forecast a further decrease in production in July, while in August all producers will implement longer shutdowns to balance supply and demand. Some long-term steel mills are rumoured to have high inventories, while others have decided to produce only on an order basis.

Italy's crude steel production decreased by 11.5% y-o-y to 21.6 million tonnes in 2022. Flat steel production decreased by 13.8% to 9.5 million tonnes, while long steel production decreased by 12% to 12 million tonnes.