The current challenges driven by geopolitical and cyclical factors are negatively impacting steel demand and prices, with a cautious and only partially optimistic outlook for 2025. These were the main topics addressed during the roundtable “Steel: what lies ahead in 2025?” held at Siderweb’s Bilanci d’Acciaio 2024 event, where participants Barbara Beltrame (AFV Beltrame Group), Roberto de Miranda (ORI Martin), and Tommaso Sandrini (San Polo Lamiere) discussed economic challenges and the prospects for an upturn anticipated for the second half of 2025.
According to de Miranda, the special steels sector, largely oriented toward the automotive industry, saw a decline in orders in the second half of 2024. With an uncertain future influenced by numerous external factors, including the European Union’s decision to phase out combustion engines by 2035, the automotive market remains fragile. Nonetheless, de Miranda believes that, should demand recover, the sector could quickly regain momentum.
An equally complex picture emerges for flat steel products, according to Tommaso Sandrini, who noted a decline in steel consumption across Europe, partly due to demographic challenges and a lack of investment in industrial innovation. He reiterated the need for the European steel industry to improve its efficiency and responsiveness to increasingly fragmented demands. Sandrini also expressed skepticism about green steel, which currently struggles to find a viable market without appropriate incentives.
The industry’s issues, according to Barbara Beltrame, are shared along the entire supply chain, and a decisive intervention from the European Union is necessary to protect the competitiveness of steel companies. Beltrame also announced the imminent opening of a new AFV Beltrame Group plant in Italy, aimed at producing 300,000 mt of slabs per year, scheduled to start operations in early 2025.
Concluding the event, following the roundtable, Giuliano Noci, professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, provided a strategic and forward-looking perspective on the industry’s future, arguing that technical excellence is no longer sufficient to maintain competitiveness in today’s market. Noci asserted that the future lies in data and platforms. Strategic big data management, along with marketing that creates engaging experiences, is essential for adapting to rapid changes and meeting the evolving needs of the steel industry and beyond, he noted.