Shipment volumes from Italian steel service centres (SSCs) increased by 0.60% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, European steel trade federation EUROMETAL said at its regional meeting in Milan, Italy, on Thursday May 18.
This compared with an EU average growth of 2.50% over the same period. However, shipments in Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium rose by 8.30% year-on-year in January-March.
Italian SSC shipments of hot rolled flat products fell by 3.40% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, compared with average growth of 0.70% year-on-year for the 28 EU member states.
Shipments from Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium of hot rolled flat products increased by 8.50% year-on-year in January-March.
Italian SSCs showed a year-on-year increase in shipments of both cold rolled flat steel products (3.20%) and galvanized and coated flat steel products (4.0%) in the quarter.
However, this lagged behind the EU average year-on-year increases of 3.50% and 4.0%, respectively.
Shipments from Austria, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium of cold rolled flat steel products (up by 7.50% year-on-year) and galvanized and coated flat steel products (up by 8.40% year-on-year) were also strong in January-March.
Viral Shah viral.shah@metalbulletin.com
