A short circuit Italy can do without
If the competitiveness of Italian steel should decrease sharply it would certainly worsen our problems of competitiveness
The export trade of Italy in the automation and mechanical industry, net of the automobile and electronics, produces a favorable balance of about 70 billion a year.
By itself, this value more than offsets our «energy bill», that is, the price we pay to import oil and gas products. In this sector, in any case, Italy competes on an equal footing with the best producers in the world, the Germans and Japanese.
A correct industrial policy should try to prevent those who produce steel from polluting the environment, but certainly cannot accept that a country like Italyf orgo such a strategic sector.
If the competitiveness of Italian steel, that by itself accounts for 16.2% of the European production (Federacciai data 2011) and is in second place after Germany for volumes, should decrease sharply, and if we should have to increase our imports to the same extent for that reason, it would certainly worsen our problems of competitiveness.
In addition, the favorable trade balance in the automation-mechanical sector could not help but vanish. So we really should try in every possible way to prevent imposing a short-circuit on the steel industry.
