Bergamo in 2023, it was the fourth Italian province for exports of steel products, tubes and other products of the first steel transformation, rising by four positions in the national ranking of steel hubs compared to 2022. It recorded growth in exports in value of 16.2%, rising to 1.5 billion euros. It is the only large Italian steel industry to have recorded a positive change. This is what emerges from the analysis of the Siderweb Research Office, based on the processing of Istat data.
An increase, he explains Gianfranco Tosini of the siderweb Research Office, «due above all to the foreign sales of tubes (+40.4%) which represent 84% of the total. Exports to EU countries decreased by 5.8%, while those to non-EU countries grew by 29.4% and constitute approximately 70% of total exports. The United States, with a share of 21.1%, is the first destination country for exports, which increased by 27.7%. In second place is Germany, with a share of 10.6%, where exports remained essentially stable. Norway rose to third place, with a share of 8.1%, where exports increased by 360%. Followed by France (-8.1%, with a share of 4.3%); the United Arab Emirates (+29.4%, with a share of 4.2%); the United Kingdom (+74%, with a share of 3.5%); Kuwait (-20.6%, with a share of 3.4%); Iraq (+136.9%, with a share of 3.1%); Brazil (261.3%, with a share of 2.6%); Saudi Arabia (+123.2%, with a share of 2%)”.
In general, Italian steel exports (steel products, tubes and other first transformation products) fell by 16.9% in 2023. The value went from 28 billion in 2022 to 23.2 billion euros last year.
Volumes, however, remained essentially stable at 16.2 million tonnes, after the 6% trend decline recorded in 2022. The negative change is therefore entirely due to the decrease in prices.
After two consecutive years of growth following the collapse of 2020 (+51.7% in 2021 and +23.8% in 2022), steel exports in value have therefore started to fall again. A decline that was slightly more marked if we look only at the top 20 Italian steelmaking hubs: exports decreased by 17.6%, stopping at 19.4 billion euros.
The top 3 has remained unchanged: in first place there is still the province of Brescia, followed by Udine and Mantua.
Negative variations significantly higher than average were recorded by the centers of Terni (-39.2%), Genoa (-35.3%), Aosta (-29.3%) and Brescia (-26.1%). The only center with a plus sign, as mentioned, is that of Bergamo, focused on the production of seamless pipes.
«These data confirm the consolidation of the geography of the Italian steel production hubs that was created after the great crisis of 2008 – comments Tosini again -. This process is evident not only from the production trend, but also from that of exports, which recorded a much more marked reduction in the provinces where the largest steel companies are or, rather, were present. In fact, in 2023 compared to 2008, exports of steel products from the province of Taranto (where Acciaierie d’Italia is located) decreased by 81.3%, relegating it to last place in the ranking of the top 20 Italian steel hubs. Exports from the province of Turin (where the thyssenkrupp plant, now closed, was located) decreased by 39.1%, causing the loss of eight positions in the ranking of the top 20 Italian steelmaking hubs. Exports from the province of Livorno (where JSW Steel Italy operates) fell by 60.6%, causing it to be excluded from the top twenty Italian steelmaking hubs.”
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