Italy’s flat steel output amounted to 900,000 mt in December last year, down seven percent year on year and constituting the lowest monthly volume in 2012. December was the fifth month in a row in which a year-on-year fall in output was observed, while a 26 percent decline was observed in the month compared to December 2010.
In 2012, overall flat steel production in Italy rose slightly, increasing by 0.7 percent or by about 100,000 metric tons year on year to 14.527 million metric tons. Despite the year-on-year increase, it should be noted that in the first quarter of the year Italy’s flat steel output had risen by five percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter last year Italy’s flat steel production decreased by 6.9 percent year on year to 3.23 million mt, constituting the first year-on-year decrease for a quarter since the fourth quarter of 2009. In the second and third quarters of last year, Italian flat steel output increased respectively by one percent and two percent year on year.