On June 30, Italian holding Siderurgica Investimenti, owner of Brescia-based steelmaker Alfa Acciai group, presented its consolidated financial results for 2010, posting a strong recovery compared to the previous year, even though still far short of pre-crisis levels. Alfa Acciai group is a vertically-integrated long steel producer.
In 2010, Siderurgica Investimenti's sales revenue amounted to €1.24 billion, half of which was due to the Alfa Acciai facility. The figure mirrors a strong 53 percent growth year on year, though still some way short of the 2008 earnings figure of €1.73 billion. According to the company, the growth of sales revenue was not due to an increase in sales volumes but was rather due to the soaring of average market prices on the back of higher raw material costs. In fact, in 2010 Siderurgica Investimenti's raw steel output increased by just three percent to 1.2 million mt, while the output of its rolling mills fell by four percent, both on year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, the net profit of Alfa Acciai group reached €5.9 million in 2010.
As stated by the management of Alfa Acciai group, "It was hard to make ends meet in such a bad situation for Italian long steel producers. Compared to 2008, the local market shrunk by 40 percent, though the real problem is overcapacity. In Italy, two producers of our size would be enough to satisfy local consumption. Moreover, it is hard to pursue an export strategy, as overseas producers - e.g., the Turkish ones - are by far more competitive than us."