The Italian steel industry was unable to buck its downward trend last month, posting a near 10% contraction in output compared to March 2014, Italian steel producers association, Federacciai tells Kallanish.

Output in March reached 2 million tonnes. This is a 100,000t increase if compared to the 1.9mt recorded in February 2015, but a 9.8% loss in production year-on-year.

The data provided by the association highlights a constant contraction in volumes ranging between 10-11% in the first three months of the year, Kallanish notes.

The total output for January-March dropped by 10.2% y-on-y to 5.9mt, compared to 6.6mt recorded in the previous year.

Italy - Crude steel production March 2015 ('000t)
  March 2015 March 2014 y-o-y ch. % Jan-Mar 2015 Jan-Mar 2014 y-o-y ch. %
Total 2,095 2,323 -9.8 5,947 6,622 -10.2

Source: Federacciai

Meanwhile, long products output in February decreased by 3.4% y-on-y to 1mt, whilst production for longs for the first two months of 2015 fell by 6.4% y-on-y to 1.8mt.

 

Flats production keeps losing volumes more heavily, with a 19.2% contraction y-on-y to 843,000t compared to 1mt recorded in 2014, whilst for the first two months of 2015, flats output fell by 17.2% y-on-y to 2.16mt, Federacciai says.

 

Italy - Longs and flats production February 2015 ('000t)
  Feb 2015 Feb 2014 y-o-y ch. % Jan-Feb 2015 Jan-Feb 2014 y-o-y ch. %
Longs 1,018 1,054 -3.4 1,846 1,973 -6.4
Flats 0,843 1,043 -19.2 1,785 2,156 -17.2

Source: Federacciai