The italian iron and steel industry, the second by importance in Europe, is experiencing a deep crisis.

Production in the first 10 months of 2009 has dropped drammatically by 40% (-37% on the european market and -13% worldwide).

Despite the month of october reports "only" a -15% compared to the same period of last year, the forecast for 2010 doesn't look clear.

By comparison on the first 10 months of 2009, the most active countries have been China (+10%) and India (+2%).