Long products remained the more resilient component of Italy’s steel industry in 2024, with output broadly stable at 11.7 million tonnes, only 0.2% below the previous year. This represented 57.6% of national steel production, Italian steelmakers association Federacciai says in its annual report obtained by Kallanish.
However, performance across long products categories diverged. Rebar and beams increased their share, wire rod remained broadly stable, while merchant bar showed the weakest result. The latter saw production fall to 3.1mt, down 7.2% on-year.
Rebar registered the strongest growth in absolute tonnage terms, rising to 2.8mt, up 4.8%. Beams and structural steel also increased, reaching 849,000 tonnes, up 7.6% compared to 2023. Wire rod returned to growth after two years of decline, totalling 4.9mt, up 0.5%.
Against this backdrop, Italy’s overall steel production continued its declining trend last year. National output fell for the third consecutive year to slightly over 20mt, a reduction of 964,000 tonnes or 4.5% compared with 2023. The contraction was largely driven by persistent weakness in hot rolled flat steel, Federacciai’s report states.
In 2024, hot-rolled flat products output recorded a sharp deterioration, not only compared with the previous year but also in relation to volumes seen over the past two decades, reaching a new historic low. Production of hot-rolled flats fell by 9.8% from 2023 to 8.6mt. Hot rolled coil declined to 6.2mt, an on-year drop of 8.7%, while plate and other flats fell to 2.4mt, a decrease of 12.5%.
Natalia Capra France
