The Italian Steel Producers Federation Federacciai has called for the urgent development of a true European industrial policy, in which important instruments such as proposed import measures, together with CBAM and affordable energy prices, are key to the survival of the Italian and European steel industries.
"It is in Brussels that the most important decisions must be made in order to avoid the geopolitical, economic and industrial uselessness of Europe in a world that is changing at a very high rate," said Antonio Gozzi, president of Federacciai, opening the Public Assembly of the Association 2025, which took place in November. On September 10, in Bergamo, Northern Italy, in the presence of Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Cohesion and Reform, Stefan Sejourn, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, and Emanuele Orsini, President of Confindustria.
Gozzi said that while the U.
S. tariffs would have limited direct impact on Italy, whose U.
S. supplies account for less than 1% of national production, the indirect effects could be devastating.
"We are approaching a shock related to the reorientation of trade," Gozzi said, warning that China's structural overcapacity and dependence on exports would redirect volumes to Europe.
Political challenges
Gozzi cautiously called CBAM "an indispensable company," but warned that it could accelerate the closure of European blast furnaces without proper precautions. Phasing out free emissions quotas could lead to an increase in carbon prices of up to $200 per metric ton, making primary steel production unprofitable, he said.
"Without a clear forecast, we are moving towards the closure of the last blast furnaces in Europe, and with them our strategic capacities for the production of key steel grades," Gozzi told the audience.
He criticized the EU's focus on hydrogen-based steel projects, calling them "absurd" failures and advocating the use of carbon capture technologies in existing blast furnaces.
His main concern remained the cost of electricity, as the European marginal pricing system, which sets electricity prices based on gas-fired electricity generation, burdened with ETS costs, undermines competitiveness.
Gozzi praised the upcoming energy release scheme in Italy, offering renewable electricity to energy-intensive industries at a price of 60-65 euros./MWh, but said that there is no agreed long-term
