Italy produced 2.211mn mt steel in July, which is up by 27pc from 1.741mn mt produced in July 2020, according to Federacciai data published in local media. Production increased also in comparison to 1.970mn mt in July 2019 and 2.152mn mt in July 2018. It has been the best July since 2012, the steelmakers’ association stated.
In the January to July period, Italian steel production reached 14.951mn mt, an increase of 26pc from 11.852mn mt in the prior year.
However, compared to the same period in 2019, production rose by 3pc and was almost up to pre-pandemic levels.
Long steel production in July increased to 1.26mn mt and flat steel production rose to 960,000mt, up by 16.8pc and 24.8pc, respectively, from the prior year.
Italy reported strong GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021 amid a robust acceleration of private consumption in the country. GDP in Q2 was up by 2.7pc from Q1 and up 17.3pc due to the low base of COVID-19 pandemic hit-2020.
Economic activities in the country recovered since Q1 thus improving the outlook for the rest of the year.