Italian flats output tumbles as Taranto limitations continue

Italian flat products output decreased again year-on-year in September after tumbling each month since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, says local steelmakers’ association Federacciai. Long products output, meanwhile, also slumped last month, Kallanish reports.

September flats output declined year-on-year by -33.4% to 694,000 tonnes. Over the first nine months output fell by -22.1% compared to the same period in 2019, reaching 6.8 million tonnes. Italian longs output declined by -1.5% in September to 1.1mt. It tumbled over January-September by -14.5% to 7.9mt.

Crude steel output in Italy fell significantly in September, by -18.7% to 1.7mt. In the first nine months of the year Italian steelmakers produced 14.5mt of crude steel, down -17.2%, Federacciai says.

A supply shortage has caused activity to stall in the Italian flats market (see Kallanish 26 October). ArcelorMittal Italia will end the year with a crude steel production of 3mt, as the company is producing between 7,000t and 10,000t of steel per day, an informed source from the former Ilva Taranto steelworks comments.