After the lockdown and the reopening of the industry, the Italian metallurgical sector has started to run again “the engines” at maximum power. The reopening of the main activities that consume steel and aluminum will boost again the sector, even if it is not yet defined when the Eurozone economy can definitively get back to its previous level.
Some of the companies working in this sector have never stop to work even if they faced a large decrease of orders due to the situation imposed by the health emergency of Covid 19. But what is the current situation of metallurgical sector in Italy?
Current situation of the metallurgical sector
During the Coronavirus period, companies engaged in the metallurgical sector lost from 1 million tons to 1.3 million tons of crude steel in only 4 weeks of. Currently, production has started at around 40-50% of their capacity, with most of these companies engaging in the satisfaction of orders obtained in the period prior to the coronavirus.
Italy is the second largest steel producer in Europe, with 23 million tons last year. Total European steel production in 2019 was 159 million tons, according to data from the World Steel Association.
Italy has always been a virtuous country according to export activities in this sector. Indeed, in the first half of this year, Italy positioned itself in seventh place among all the world countries engaged in the export of products deriving from metallurgy and metal in general. In particular, the so-called Bel Paese is positioned itself in seventh place between other two relevant nation in this sector such as the United Kingdom and South Korea. The world market share held by Italy alone is equal to 3.8%.
What are the main countries where Italy is exporting its metal products?
Although compared to 2018 there was a slight inflection in the volume of exports worldwide, the European and non-European countries that import from Italy are: Germany with 5,770 million euros, Switzerland with 3,913 million euros, France with 3,036 million euro, Spain with 1,765 million euros, Poland with 1,399 million euros, United States with 1,228 million, United Kingdom with 1,212 million euros, Austria with 1,088 million euros, Czech Republic with 779 million euros and Romania with 734 million euros EUR. It is indicative how, in this list of countries, there is the United Kingdom which appears to be one step above Italy in terms of export volume achieved.
Sebbene rispetto al 2018 sia stata registrata una leggera inflessione nel volume delle esportazioni in tutto il mondo, i Paesi europei e non che importano dall’Italia sono: Germani con 5.770 milioni di euro, Svizzera con 3.913 milioni di euro, Francia con 3.036 milioni di euro, Spagna con 1.765 milioni di euro, Polonia con 1.399 milioni di euro, Stati Uniti con 1.228, Regno Unito con 1.212 milioni di euro, Austria con 1.088 milioni di euro, Repubblica Ceca con 779 milioni di euro e la Romania con 734 milioni di euro.
MatcHub.net elaboration according to the data of “Osservatorio Economico MISE”
Which are the Italian regions with the largest export volume within this sector?
In addition to a general overview about Italian export volume, it is important to evaluate the main productive regions within Italy to understand better where this sector is mostly developed. Thus, according to the data, Italian Northern area alone exceed 70% of national exports. Although from 2016 to 2019 central Italy has increased its export share by +4%.
MatcHub.net elaboration according to the data of “Osservatorio Economico MISE”
Among the specific regions, in order of relevance, we find Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piedmonte and Lazio. Looking at these data, it is evident that Northern regions contribute most to the metallurgical sector in Italy.
MatcHub.net elaboration according to the data of “Osservatorio Economico MISE”