Fragmentation and consolidation, upstream integration or independence - these are the issues which will decide the future of the trading or distribution system of the steel industry in Italy, according to Eurometal vice president Jürgen Nusser who gave his views in the following interview.
What do you think of the distributive structure of the steel industry in Italy?
"The Italian distributive system is without doubt very atypical due to its excessive fragmentation. Moreover, this is a characteristic built into the country's DNA. Staying with the steel industry, if you consider purely the production side of things, practically all companies are family owned. In any case, steel distribution continues to be a business activity linked to local realities."
Therefore this fragmentation is a positive element?
"I'd prefer to say that it is not necessarily a negative factor since the activity of the distributor must always be oriented towards satisfying the customers' requirements which, by nature, are quite varied."
What possible developments lie ahead for the distribution system in Italy?
"The structure of the distribution system in the Italy of today is very similar to that of Germany in the 1960s. The German model developed following a tendency towards concentration, though maintaining its distribution system independent from production. This model has proved successful. In France, on the other hand, in spite of having three companies which account for 80 percent of commercialized steel, the structure seems to function less effectively. In the long term, Italy could perhaps roughly follow the evolution of the German model, though with slightly different characteristics. In the coming years, we could witness successive physiological processes of transformation instead of seeing epochal changes."
So what developments are desirable?
"I think that the fundamental factor is customer satisfaction. This factor is also valid for the service centers, whose frequencies must remain tuned in to the requirements of the customer, and not to those of the supplier. At the end of the day, I do not see the need for producers to get involved in distribution. The evolution of the distribution system will naturally follow the evolution of steel consumption, which in turn is linked to the weight of influence which the different user-sectors will have in the future."
Assofermet (association of Italian steel industry traders) has rejoined Eurometal. What are your thoughts on this?
"I can only be happy to see Assofermet among our members once again. It is an important partner."