【Ferro-alloys.com】: In his presentation at Eurometal's 75th anniversary conference, Antonio Marcegaglia, CEO of Marcegaglia, gave a comprehensive assessment of the group's strategic approach, the challenges in the global steel industry, the future of the European industry and competitiveness issues.

Antonio Marcegaglia stated: "Portfolio, one of the highlights of our group is the geographical diversification on the front line and the diversification of the user market. This is a key element of resilience in our performance as a fundamental pillar of our strategy,", highlighting the company's flexibility.Marcegaglia recalled that before the long product acquisition in 2022,the group's performance reached the 90 billion level, after which this level dropped to below 7. “Service is a kind of 'gold' of the near future," he emphasized
the importance of the service sector.

Pointing to the structural change in demand as the first major challenge in the steel industry,Marcegaglia noted that Europe has experienced a loss of demand of about 15 million tons in the last 6 to 8 years. He stated that this loss took place in the context of the global growth slowdown and that the growth rate of many countries, including China, has slowed down. Only India and some Southeast Asian countries are growing, so Europe needs new strategies to support steel demand, he emphasized.

Underlining the expectations that electric arc furnaces(EAF) will grow globally, Marcegaglia noted, "What is 30% today could be 50% tomorrow. This is not unique to Europe," he added. He highlighted the growth potential of specialty products such as stainless steel, high-performance steel and green steel, noting that public announcements are important to support demand. He also pointed out that rearmament and infrastructure projects could boost demand and that supporting Europe's domestic demand should not be overlooked.

Referring to global overcapacity, Marcegaglia noted that capacity continues to grow in Asia, particularly in India and Southeast Asia. He stated that Chinese trading partners are predicting that 300 million tons of capacity will be cut in the next 5 to 8 years. He explained that these cuts are due to economic sustainability issues and that export-led models no longer work for China.

Commenting on protective trade measures,Marcegaglia emphasized that "We need to protect our industry against unfair competition and this requires anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures.But protectionism without a clear objective cannot be the only solution,", stated Marcegaglia, emphasizing the importance of Europe remaining integrated in the global supply chain. Europe should not adopt a completely isolated approach.

• [Editor:Alakay]