The situation is changing due to production disruptions and import restrictions
In particular, on October 25-26, a fire broke out at the Marcegaglia plant in Ravenna (Italy), one of the company's three cold–rolled coil production facilities. This incident led to a production shutdown. However, the company did not comment on which line was affected or how long the downtime would last. Meanwhile, some sources suggest that the shutdown may take a long time.
Italian media reported on October 27 that an investigation had been launched to assess the damage and determine the time needed to restore the rolling mill to full operation.
Marcegaglia is the main supplier of cotton roll to Italy. Even before the incident, buyers from this country were concerned about the prospects for the total volume of supplies, given the upcoming quota cuts and the anti-dumping investigation launched by the European Commission in September this year against products from India, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Turkey. These five countries accounted for 67% of all CRC imports to the EU in 2024.
Several Spanish and Italian buyers told the agency that they would have to reorient their supply chains from imports to local producers. They assumed that the latter would start producing more CRC for sale. In recent years, EU manufacturers have been reducing the production of some brands due to lower demand and high costs.
It should be recalled that at the end of September – October, the global hot-rolled roll (HRC) market demonstrated opposite trends in key regions.
European prices went up under the influence of the expected strengthening of trade protection. In the United States, there is prolonged stability amid weak demand, while China is lowering prices again due to excess stocks and lack of confidence in the industrial recovery.
