TPT March 2013

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Lights and shades for the Italian
steel industry this year
THE first part of 2012 was marked by
ups and downs for Italian steel. After a
good start of the year, the iron and steel
industry slowed down, and some of the
industry key indicators went below their
2011 levels.
Production – In the first quarter of the
year, domestic steel industry recorded
clearly higher figures than in the same
period of the year before, to then go down
in the following four months. Going into
further details, an output of 7.435 million
of tons of iron and steel products was
recorded between January and March,
+6.4% vs. 2011. Since April, however,
production data began deteriorating,
losing 4.1% in the fourth month of the
year, 3.3% in May, 7.9% in June and
7.8% in July. In the first seven months of
the year, then, overall output amounted
to 17.282 million tons, down 0.7% versus
the previous year. Italian steel performed
better than the EU, where output
decreased by 4.6% between January
and July versus 2011. Globally, a 1%
increase was recorded, with an overall
output of 896.944 million tons.
Foreign trade – More exports, less
imports. This, in a nutshell, is the trend
of Italian steel foreign trade between
January and May (most recent available
data). According to statistics published
by Federacciai, in the first five months
of the year, purchases of iron and
steel products from abroad amounted
to 6.205 million tons, minus 26.3%
versus the previous year. All products
are decreasing, in particular flat-rolled
products (-31.6%), while products
resulting from the first (-9%) and second
processing of steel (-7.3%) are doing
better. With respect to exports, volumes
increased by 9.8%, to 8.208 million
tons. The result was achieved especially
thanks to the good performance of long
(+18.5% to 1.749 million tons) and flat-
rolled products (+14.7% to 3.769 million
tons), while products of first processing
of steel diminished by 1.5%. Breaking
down figures by geographical area,
between January and May imports from
EU dropped by 8.1%, while exports
grew by 3.5%; as to non-EU countries,
imports diminished by 42% (at 2.620
million tons) while exports increased by
27.4% (2.505 million tons).
Apparent consumption – In the first
five months of 2012, Italian apparent
consumption of steel amounted to
10.386 million tons, with a reduction of
2.695 million tons vs. the previous 12
months. The percentage drop amounted
to 21%.
Prices –The trend of steel prices in Italy
closely followed production. In the first
quarter, the superindex of carbon steel
prices in Italy (calculated by Siderweb
on the average of basic prices of coils,
hot-rolled plates, galvanized plates,
round bars for reinforced concrete, wire
rods, beams and merchant bars) rose
from €428.13 per ton in early January
to €444.09 per ton at the end of March.
While production weakened, prices
began to fall, more markedly from the
second half of May, taking average
prices at the end of July to €403.03 per
ton, 5.9% less than in January.
2013 theme is: “Work and life”
“Work and life” is to be the theme
developed at the fifth Made in Steel,
the conference and exhibition of the
steel industry that will be held in Milan
at the exhibition halls of fieramilanocity
on 3-5 April 2013. The decision taken
by the Steering Committee of Made in
Steel is rooted in the significance of
iron and steel work, in the constant and
close presence of steel in our everyday
lives: in the movement generated in
it, in the energy it emanates, in the
solidity of the structure it manages to
create. Made in Steel intends to be
part and parcel of the certainty of the
sublimation of man by means of his
works. Thanks to the particular care
with which the main user sectors will be
analysed – building, transportation and
power and utilities – the connection
between steel and our lives will be
more decisively felt, leading each of
us to realise how its absence would
destroy the certainties on which our
life is based. In this direction, Made
in Steel will organise a full agenda
of conferences that will tackle the
relevant supply chains of the user
sectors in their complexity, describing
their current status and prospects. In
addition, looking as always towards
the future, Made in Steel will analyse
the new geography of steel.
Some of the biggest names in the steel
industry will speak at the show
Made in Steel Focus
70 March 2013