Italy's apparent consumption is declining, Germany's trade balance is becoming scarce
In 2024, the apparent consumption of primary steel products in Italy continued to decline, which has continued since 2022, reflecting a slowdown in production, according to the annual report of the Italian steel manufacturers association Federacciai, obtained by Kallanish.
Actual consumption decreased by 2.1% year-on-year to 26.1 million tons. This level remained close to the ten-year average minimum and was exceeded only at the 2020 level of 23.9 million tons.
There are different trends by product type. Consumption of unalloyed and other alloy steels decreased by 2.3%, reaching 24.7 million tons. Stainless steel prices have changed. After a sharp drop in 2023, when apparent consumption dropped to 1.4 million tons with a 25.8% drop, volumes stabilized in 2024, increasing by 0.3%.
Overall, the Federacciai document indicates a deterioration in the performance of domestic producers, partly due to a reduction in exports, while imports remained stable. Shipments from Italian factories fell 4.7% to 24.1 million tons, reaching a new ten-year low.
The decline in exports was even more noticeable. Total foreign sales decreased by 7% to 10.1 million tons, which is also a ten-year low. The breakdown by destination shows a decrease. Exports to EU countries, which account for more than 80% of Italy's external supplies and totaled 8.4 million tons, decreased by 6.6%, while shipments to markets outside the EU decreased by 9.2% to 1.7 million tons.
.Import dynamics have changed. The total volume of imports reached 17 million tons in 2024 and remained at the level of 2023, decreasing by 0.8%. This overall stability reflects two opposite trends: imports from EU countries increased to 7.4 million tons, or 1% year-on-year, while shipments from non-EU suppliers decreased to 9.5 million tons, or 2.1%. Despite the third annual decline since 2022, shipments from non-EU countries still accounted for more than 55% of total Italian imports.
For the first time in the last decade, trade with Germany, Italy's main import and export partner, has become scarce due to a sharp decline in exports to Germany, which decreased by 13.2% year-on-year to 1.9 million tons, which is below the level of 2020. However, shipments from Germany to Italy increased by 5.3% to 1.9 million tons.
As for imports, India continued to expand its presence in the Italian market. With an increase of 4.4%, shipments to India reached 1.9 million tons last year, the highest in a decade, confirming that India will become the second largest source of steel imports to Italy in 2024. Turkey also demonstrated