The northern Italian port of Marghera (main port serving Venice and its hinterland) has reported a sharp fall of 41 percent in steel product arrivals during the month of July, compared to June.
Total steel product imports arriving at Marghera in July amounted to just 228,000 metric tons. However, for the first seven months of 2007, total steel imports through Marghera came to 2.04 million metric tons, still higher than the 1.79 million metric tons recorded for the corresponding period of 2006.
Looking at the separate steel categories, scrap imports at Marghera in July saw a strong drop from 88,000 metric tons in June to just 11,600 metric tons. Billet imports fell 62 percent to 31,000 metric tons, while coil imports totaled 80,000 metric tons for the month in question, down 37 percent.
On the other hand, imports of slab and pig iron through Marghera in July were up 18 and 17 percent respectively, totaling 34,800 and 70,700 metric tons.