Steel production in Italy in 2019 below forecasts

Steel production in Italy in 2019 fell 5.2% year-on-year to 23.24 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the Italian steel association Federacciai, as the year ended with a production cut.

In October, the association forecast a decline of 4% to 4.5%.
Production of flat products in 2019 decreased by 4.8% year-on-year to 10.62 million tonnes, while production of long products decreased by 1.6% to 12.20 million tonnes.

In December alone, crude steel production fell 17.3% year on year to 1.413 million tonnes. Steel sheet production in the same month fell sharply by 35.8% to 577,000 tonnes, the largest drop in a month since at least 2014.

The sharp drop in flat steel production in December was mainly due to renovations at Arvedi, the second largest Italian apartment manufacturer, which undertook major renovations on some of its lines. Crude steel production also declined due to production problems at ArcelorMittal Italia, Italy's largest apartment manufacturer, in part due to uncertainties caused by tensions between ArcelorMittal and the Italian government, and due to the decision to cut production in line with lower demand. ...

Long product output in December was down 5.8% year on year to 757,000 tonnes. Market sources said that demand for long positions also declined in December and steelmakers decided to increase the number of Christmas stops.

Federacciai declined to comment on the outlook for the coming months, but market sources said demand for long and flat products in the first quarter is expected to improve due to restocking and strengthening key market indicators.