Italy’s Rolled Steel Exports Drop 12% in January 2025 as Imports Soar

Italy’s Steel Exports Decline Amid Market Shifts

Italy’s rolled steel exports to third countries fell 12% year-on-year in January 2025, totaling 120,090 metric tons.
According to GMK Center, which based its data on Eurostat, the figure also fell 2.7% month-on-month.

Long product exports dropped to 66,970 tons, down 11.8% year-on-year and 9.3% month-on-month. In contrast, flat product exports rose 12.3% year-on-year to 53,120 tons. The month-on-month growth for flat products reached 7%.

Coated flat products (HS 7210) led exports with 16,050 tons. This marked a 27.5% year-on-year and 68.6% monthly increase.
However, other products showed mixed performance. Carbon steel wire (HS 7217) declined by 24.4% year-on-year to 13,540 tons. Hot-rolled flat products also dropped sharply by 48.9%, reaching only 13,520 tons.
At the same time, twisted rods and bars (HS 7214) posted a 23.5% monthly rise, though still down 6.7% compared to January 2024.

Italian Steel Imports Surge in Early 2025

Italy’s steel imports surged by 6.4% year-on-year in January 2025, reaching 961,640 tons. Compared to December 2024, imports jumped 2.6 times.

Flat products dominated this growth, totaling 893,980 tons—a 5.7% year-on-year increase and nearly triple the previous month’s volume.
Long product imports also rose significantly, up 17.4% to 67,660 tons.

Hot-rolled flat products (HS 7208) led the way with 518,950 tons. Although this figure was down 6.7% year-on-year, it increased 2.6 times from December.
Coated flat products (HS 7210) soared to 210,620 tons—up 15.9% year-on-year and 11.1 times month-on-month.

Italy also increased its intake of corrosion-resistant steel (HS 7219) by 107.1% to 60,520 tons. Alloy flat products (HS 7225) jumped 24.7%, totaling 53,600 tons.

Domestic Production Declines, Imports Gain Ground

In 2024, Italy’s steel production fell 5% to 20 million tons, continuing a downward trend. December output declined 8.8% year-on-year and dropped 33.4% from November to just 1.199 million tons.

Long product production held relatively stable at 11.7 million tons, decreasing by only 0.2%. This segment benefited from strong construction activity.
However, flat product output shrank by 9.7%, totaling 8.6 million tons.

The weakness of Italy’s automotive and industrial sectors, combined with high import volumes, impacted domestic producers. As global demand shifts and prices fluctuate, SuperMetalPrice continues to monitor these developments for industry stakeholders.