Danieli forecasts another good year on green steel plants and machinery orders

Italian engineering company and steel producer Danieli has published a bullish outlook for the upcoming financial year, expecting a significant order book as its customers invest in new green steel plants and more efficient and sustainable steel production.

This will continue to sustain voumes and margins within Danieli’s Plantmaking segment, the company said in its 2021-22 earnings statement.

Danieli said it expects the steel market to continue to perform well even as “it foresees the possibility of distortions or slowdowns, especially in Europe due to the energy crisis triggered by the sanctions applied to Russia, a situation that without corrective action by the European markets authority could continue into 2023 as well.”

The company stressed that all steel producers are becoming increasingly committed to running their plants sustainably and reducing energy consumption with mills that are increasingly flexible.

According to Danieli, the average plant utilization factor, compared to the maximum theoretical level, is stable at 80%-85% after the most polluting plants were shut down in China and plants with more modern technologies started up in India.

During the period from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, Danieli’s steelmaking unit, ABS Group, which produces long special steel products, sold about 1.3 million mt, up from 1 million mt in the same period the previous year, and the company aims to maintain or further increase these volumes in the next year.

Danieli also said that it will bring its Croatian unit ABS Sisak and the new wire rod and ball mills at ABS S.p.A. up to maximum efficiency.

The company also said that ABS Group is mulling a major new investment plan of around Eur700 million to increase production volumes by about 1 million mt with the distinction of being the only steelworks to produce quality steels in a range of products from 5.5 to 500 mm diameter on a single site.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed TSI Northwest European rebar at Eur802/mt ex-works Sept. 27, down Eur13/mt week on week.

— Annalisa Villa