In the year of the eighth edition of Made in Steel, in the European Union and in Italy the outlook for the steel sector still remains positive after a good 2018, even if the figures are lower than in the recent past, influenced by the negative carry-over effect of the last quarter of 2018.
According to the forecasts of Eurofer, the European steel association, the real steel consumption in the EU should be breaking of at +0,8 % in 2019 (against the +2.2 % of 2018) at 165 million t, followed by a +0,9 % in 2020 at 166 million.
Almost all the EU steel-using sectors are going to slow down in 2019 and 2020, however they will still be in a positive place: the forecast for the growth rate of production is 1,5 % and 1,7 % (against +3,1 % in 2018).
Concerning Italy, according to the estimations of the siderweb Research Department, the apparent consumption in 2019 (delivery plus import minus export) should increase by 1 % (2,9 % in 2017; + 2 % in 2018), aligning with the European data.
In detail, in 2019, the automotive sector should slow down (0,5 % with respect to 2018), while the construction industry will stay steady on a growth rate of about 1 %. “It is licit to expect a slowing down in the speed of the growth rate of flat steel – estimates Stefano Ferrari, Chief of siderweb Research Department -, that in the last years have been the driving force behind the growth of steel consumption in Italy, and a relative improvement of long products, that should increase at a similar rate of flat products.”
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