The enlargement of the quarantine zone in Italy to a nationwide reach has already started to affect steel output, with at least two long steel mills announcing production stoppages, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday March 11.
On March 9, Italian authorities
extended the lockdown from northern areas across the whole country in an attempt to control the outbreak of the 2019-nCoV coronavirus.
Long steel production affected
Two major long steel producers in Brescia, Alfa Acciai and Ferriera Valsabbia, stopped production on Wednesday morning due to coronavirus issues, sources told Fastmarkets.
Alfa Acciai confirmed its production stoppage to Fastmarkets, but Ferriera Valsabbia had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication.
The availability of long steel products, however, was unlikely to be affected in the short term, according to the market sources,
"Both mills will keep delivering because Italian producers usually carry a stable huge stock," a long steel trader said.
Alfa Acciai has capacity for 1.25 million tonnes per year of rebar and 800,000 tpy of wire rod. Ferriera Valsabbia can produce 750,000 tpy of rebar and 150,000 tpy of wire rod...