During a press conference held in Milan, Giuseppe Pasini, outgoing chairman of the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai, said that in 2012 Italy may see limited steel output growth compared to 2011 despite the positive figures recorded in the first quarter of current year.
"The main reason is the negative trend of steel consumption not only in Italy, but in general in Europe and also in emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil" he said. He continued, "This means that the upcoming months will be characterized by decreasing steel output, adding that it would be difficult to maintain the growth rate in output (around five percent year on year) recorded in the first quarter.
Mr. Pasini also cited the latest EUROFER steel market outlook for the European Union, which said that EU apparent steel consumption will be down 10 percent in Q1, down 5.5 percent in Q2, stable in Q3 and up 7.5 percent in Q4, all on year-on-year basis.