In September 2024, Italy's steel industry experienced a notable downturn, reducing steel production by 8.4% compared to the same month in 2023. This decline brought the total production down to 1.79 million metric tons. Interestingly, this figure reflects a sharp month-on-month increase, as production was 2.3 times higher than in August, a month characterized by maintenance shutdowns and production cuts due to unfavorable market conditions. These statistics were reported by SteelOrbis, referencing data from the Italian Federation of Steelworkers, known as Federacciai.
The production of rolled products also faced challenges, with output decreasing by 5.4% year-on-year. This category of steel, which includes various long products, saw a production volume of 1.1 million metric tons, marking a significant monthly rise of 3.1 times compared to August. Conversely, the output of flat products fell by 9.1% year-on-year to 755,000 metric tons, although this represented a substantial month-on-month increase of 81.9%. The sharp month-on-month increase for both categories can be attributed to the low production base from August, during which many Italian steel mills were either temporarily closed or operating at reduced capacity.
Looking at the broader picture, from January to September 2024, Italian steelmakers have reduced overall production by 5.6% compared to the same period in 2023, totaling 15.1 million metric tons. Within this timeframe, long products production reached 8.8 million metric tons, reflecting a slight increase of 0.5% year-on-year, while flat products saw a more significant drop of 10.3% to 6.4 million metric tons.
The trends observed in 2023 also illustrate a worrying pattern. Last year, Italian steelmakers recorded a 2.5% decline in steel production compared to 2022, with total production falling to 21.06 million metric tons. This decrease was primarily driven by a drop in global demand for steel products, compounded by rising energy costs that affected operational efficiency.
In a broader context, the European Union's steel production mirrored Italy's struggles. In 2023, the EU produced a total of 126.3 million metric tons of steel, which represented a 7.4% year-on-year decline. However, a slight rebound was observed in December 2023, when EU steel production increased by 2.7% compared to December 2022, reaching 9.1 million metric tons.
