In December last year, crude steel production in Italy increased by 15.6 percent year on year to 1.623 million mt, according to the latest provisional data released by Federacciai, the Italian steel producers' association. An increase had been expected by several sources last month due to the shorter-than-usual stoppages by local mills in December compared to previous years, and also due to the positive trend of local steel prices. In 2020 overall, Italian crude steel production came to 20.354 million mt, 12.2 percent lower than the 2019 volume, with a progressive reduction in the year-on-year downtrend from May onwards, i.e., after the end of the lockdown period caused by the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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|
Crude steel output |
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|
Month |
000/mt |
Y-o-y change (%) |
progr. |
Y-o-y change (%) |
|
Jan |
1,873 |
-5.0 |
1,873 |
-5.0 |
|
Feb |
2,042 |
0 |
3,915 |
-2.5 |
|
Mar |
1,372 |
-40.0 |
5,287 |
-16.1 |
|
Apr |
1,106 |
-43.3 |
6,393 |
-22.5 |
|
May |
1,858 |
-16.2 |
8,251 |
-21.2 |
|
Jun |
1,811 |
-12.9 |
10,062 |
-19.8 |
|
Jul |
1,737 |
-11.8 |
11,799 |
-18.7 |
|
Aug |
939 |
+9.7 |
12,738 |
-17,1 |
|
Sep |
1,796 |
-18.6 |
14,534 |
-17.3 |
|
Oct |
2,130 |
-4,1 |
16,664 |
-15.8 |
|
Nov |
2,067 |
+4,1 |
18,731 |
-14.0 |
|
Dec |
1,623 |
+15,6 |
20,354 |
-12.2 |
Looking at the flat and long product segments, in December production of longs was higher than that of flats, amounting to 861,00 mt, up 12.3 percent year on year. The output of flat steel in the same month totaled 827,000 mt, increasing by 36.5 percent year on year.
In 2020, production of longs amounted to 11.163 million mt, recording a drop of 9.5 percent compared to the previous year, while production of flats totaled 9.485 million mt, down 16.2 percent year on year.