Italy's flat steel output amounted to 918,000 mt in January this year, down 28.8 percent year on year, according to the latest figures provided by Italian steel producers association Federacciai. January was the sixth consecutive month in which a year-on-year fall in output was recorded. The last month of January in which Italian flat steel output recorded a smaller volume was January 2009.
The collapse in flat steel output in Italy is directly linked to the production performance of Taranto-based producer Ilva. As reported by SteelOrbis, blast furnace No. 1 at the steelmaker's Taranto steelworks was turned off on December 8. Moreover, the company has still not provided any date for the restart of its hot rolling mill No. 1, which had originally been scheduled for January 7.
Italy's flat steel production had risen slightly in 2012, up by 0.7 percent year on year, but in the fourth quarter it recorded a 6.9 percent year-on-year fall.