A strong first half marked by healthy demand and rising prices, followed by a slowdown that spread to even Europe's most resilient markets from July onwards. This is how Federica Bonini, export manager at SIPI, a Parma-based manufacturer of stainless steel flat bars and profiles, describes a year of contrasting fortunes for the industry. Despite the weaker market conditions, the company is pressing ahead with new industrial and commercial investments as it prepares for 2027.

“Personally, I'm very optimistic about 2027,” says Bonini, who has just celebrated her first anniversary with SIPI. Her confidence is tempered, however, by an awareness of the challenges currently facing the market.

“There's a lot of hesitation,” she observes. Demand held up well in the opening months of the year, despite selling price increases of around €50 per tonne each month, which Bonini says were necessary to pass on rising raw material costs. Sales volumes were satisfactory and improved on 2025, itself a positive year in volume terms, although margins had been less encouraging.

The situation changed over the summer. Markets such as Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France, which had supported sales in the first part of the year, also began to show signs of slowing down.

According to Bonini, demand was also affected by the decision of many market participants to bring forward purchases ahead of changes to European regulations. The start of the definitive phase of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in January 2026 and expectations surrounding the new EU steel trade defence measures, which took effect in July, prompted many buyers to increase imports towards the end of 2025, taking advantage of particularly low prices.

Purchasing continued into the first quarter of this year, extending to European-produced material. The result, Bonini explains, is a market burdened by high inventories, with demand largely limited to immediate requirements. Orders for November mainly concern small-scale stock replenishment, while larger purchases appear to have been postponed until next year.

Stainless steel flat product prices are also feeling the effects. After rising through September, prices edged down by a few cents per kilogram as order intake weakened. Bonini nevertheless believes this phase will be temporary and expects prices to recover in January, partly reflecting the energy costs faced by steelmakers.

A key reason for her optimism about next year is the prospect of greater cost certainty throughout the supply chain. In Bonini's view, the impact of the new EU import measures has yet to be fully felt, largely because of the substantial stocks still available on the market. As inventories gradually decline and costs become more predictable across the supply chain, orders could begin to recover in 2027.

In the meantime, SIPI has decided to source exclusively from European producers in 2026, both to reduce its exposure to regulatory changes and to meet growing customer demand for European-made steel.

The company has also strengthened supply chain traceability, asking suppliers to specify the country where the steel was melted and poured directly on mill certificates. This provides greater transparency over the origin of the material.

Bonini also draws attention to competition from finished products imported from outside the EU. In her view, the European Commission's proposed extension of CBAM to downstream products from 1 January 2028 will come too late to address the needs of European manufacturers. Earlier protection, she argues, could have helped alleviate at least some of the difficulties faced by steel users in recent months.

As market conditions evolve, SIPI is seeking to strengthen its competitive position by building on production flexibility and in-depth technical knowledge of its products.

Founded in 1992, the company generates around 20% of its sales in Italy and operates in more than 40 countries. Its main customers are distributors, supplying products primarily for mechanical engineering and a wide range of industrial applications, from food processing to pharmaceuticals.

One opportunity identified by Bonini lies in distributors' ability to help customers choose the most suitable material for each application. As purchasing conditions change, technical advice can become an increasingly important way for suppliers to differentiate themselves.

There are significant differences between cold-drawn bars, hot-rolled bars, slit bars and flat bars sheared from stainless steel sheet, such as those manufactured by SIPI.

Bonini highlights the machinability and processing characteristics of sheared bars in particular. Compared with products obtained through slitting, shearing can help limit work hardening along the edges while preserving the mechanical properties of the original sheet. These characteristics can be particularly important in applications involving further processing, vibration and transverse stresses.

Understanding these differences enables distributors to guide end users towards more appropriate solutions, rather than allowing purchasing decisions to be driven solely by price or established buying habits.

This is why SIPI intends to expand its technical advisory services, including training opportunities for distributors' sales teams. The company is already encouraging customers to explore product characteristics and potential applications in greater depth, with the aim of identifying solutions that can improve efficiency or reduce costs without compromising the required performance.

Such support can be particularly valuable for small and medium-sized businesses, which do not always have in-house research and development departments and may still rely on designs and technical specifications drawn up many years ago.

SIPI maintains a stock of approximately 700 tonnes of flat bars available for immediate supply, comprising 80% AISI 304 stainless steel and 20% AISI 316L. Both grades are available in 4- and 6-metre lengths. The company can also customise supplies to meet individual customer requirements.

Another development involves its close relationship with affiliated company Oiki, a long-established stainless steel distributor. Their proximity has provided the basis for an integrated logistics project that is currently being implemented. Once operational, the system will allow the two businesses to combine their product ranges and offer greater logistical flexibility in response to an increasingly unpredictable market.

On the production side, SIPI is investing in the revamping of a third shearing machine, which is expected to become operational by February 2027. The upgrade will provide greater manufacturing flexibility, speed up processing and improve certain product characteristics, enabling the company to target new applications.

As Bonini points out, the investment is not primarily intended to deliver a substantial, automatic increase in output. Rather, the focus is on improving service and material performance.

At the same time, SIPI has expanded its sales team, increasing the number of people dedicated to direct sales from one to three. The aim is to build closer customer relationships and gain a better understanding of their requirements.

The new team, which is also undergoing training, will support a more direct approach to the market and a more personalised service, making the most of SIPI's ability to respond to specific customer needs.

SIPI's commercial investments for next year also include participation in Made in Steel 2027, taking place from 11 to 13 May at fieramilano Rho.

Even after more than 30 years in business, the company sees the international exhibition as an opportunity to raise its profile among overseas industry professionals and reinforce its identity as an Italian manufacturer, beyond its established commercial relationships.

“I think the exhibition is an important opportunity,” says Bonini, highlighting the value of face-to-face contact at a time when customer visits have become less frequent than in the past.

For her, Made in Steel is “a place to be seen, but also to meet people”: an opportunity to strengthen business relationships, gain a deeper understanding of end users' needs and identify new applications. These encounters, she adds, “always generate new ideas, too.”

This emphasis on customer relationships also reflects SIPI's wider commercial strategy, which aims to complement its manufacturing capabilities with an increasingly active role in technical consultancy.

As Bonini concludes, “You're not just selling a price or a delivery service; you're selling expertise, too.”

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