Italian steel exports to non-European Union countries declined by 11.2 percent year on year during the first five months of 2007, falling to 2.027 million metric tons (mt) - according the data released by Federacciai (association of Italian steel industry enterprises)
In January-May 2007 Italy's steel trade balance with non-EU countries registered a deficit of 3.811 million mt, as opposed to 2.087 million mt for the corresponding period of last year.
An overall fall was seen during the period in question in Italian exports of flat products, down 18 percent year on year to 577,000 mt. Breaking this figure down into its component parts: coil exports fell 18 percent to 283,000 mt, hot rolled sheet and plate exports were down 10.1 percent to 98,000 mt, cold rolled sheet declined by 38.9 percent to 58,000 mt, while HDG exports saw a drop of 39.7 percent to 44,000 mt.
A contrary tendency, however, was seen during January-May 2007 as regards Italy's exports of long products to non-EU countries, which registered a rise of 20.6 percent reaching 569,000 mt. Of this figure, exports of beams climbed by100 percent to 66,000 mt, merchant beam exports went up by 30 percent to 130,000 mt), while wire rod exports rose 11.7 percent to 124,000 mt. Rebar exports constituted the sole exception to the overall upward trend in longs exports, declining by 2.6 percent to 185,000 mt.
Furthermore, Italian exports of semi finished steel to non-EU countries in the first five months of the current year fell by 45.7 percent to 204,000 mt. Meanwhile, seamless tube exports increased by 35,000 mt year on year to 243,000 mt. Welded tube exports, however, saw a strong decline of 103,000 mt, dropping to 195,000 mt.