Dear Stakeholders,
2024 and the early months of 2025 present us with a scenario that has failed to bring a positive change to the global context, both socially and economically.
The ongoing military conflicts, with epicentres both in Ukraine and the Middle East, have resonated throughout the year, and only in the early months of 2025 do possible peace scenarios seem to be emerging, although still too fragile. As of the day I am writing to you, the global political landscape has experienced significant shifts: in the USA with the rise of a new president, in our Europe with the formation of a new European Commission, and most recently, in Germany with elections that will lead to a new government.
In this context, the economic dynamics have incorporated all the tensions and uncertainties, as in the most traditional models, with an intensification of regionalisation processes that have distanced the Western bloc from the Eastern one. Our home, Europe, risks becoming like an earthenware pot between two iron pots, focusing too much on regulation and not enough on establishing the conditions to act as a united player capable of countering giants like the USA and China. We need a more cohesive, more responsive, more operational Europe.
In spite of this, our Group has consolidated its belief in the growing necessity to develop a business model that not only withstands crises, but also aligns ongoing operations with the achievement of environmental and social sustainability objectives.
Guided by this belief, we have voluntarily produced the second edition of the Integrated Report, reaffirming the importance of providing transparent and comprehensive financial and sustainability information. While engaging with a European regulatory context on ESG reporting currently under review, the Group has decided to continue with the voluntary adoption of new significant regulatory frameworks, including the European Taxonomy and the CSRD Directive on sustainability reporting. To make it easier to read and understand, you have in your hands a document of more immediate readability and integrated in its sections.
The document reflects the Group’s strategic and pragmatic vision with clear commitments and stated targets towards which we aim through a multi- lever action plan. In 2024, even with a slowdown in steel demand in Europe, Feralpi continued to invest significantly in line with its industrial plan to expand the range and depth of its offerings, to be more flexible thanks to efficient plants capable of producing low-impact steel through the electrification of production processes where possible, the replacement or reduction of the use of natural resources and fossil fuels, and the support of renewable energy.
Two substantial investments are moving precisely in this direction. They will become operational in 2025 and will redesign the Group’s industrial profile by strengthening it in terms of volume, range, and low environmental impact, with the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) reaching the top of the market. These investments include the new Rolling Mill B in Riesa to produce the first spooler up to 8 tonnes, the first made in Germany from a zero Scope 1 direct emissions plant, and the new spooler line in Lonato del Garda, which completes our offering with a high-quality product.
In other words, we can be even more competitive in international markets, reconciling business with the purpose “To produce and grow with respect for humanity and the environment” of Feralpi’s founder, Carlo Pasini, whose birth centenary was in 2024.
To do so, it is necessary to evolve continuously.
Pursuing a constant commitment to sustainability and operational excellence, we continually invest in Research and Development, a crucial activity to reduce the environmental impacts of our activities and constantly improve production performance.
To achieve a real transformation, technologies alone are not enough. A company is sustainable when it embodies a social role that values people and respects their individuality. In this context, we have accelerated and strengthened our DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) activities, successfully implementing projects to promote the inclusion of female staff in a traditionally male-dominated sector. We have also maintained our engagement with our stakeholders, from employees to participants in our value chains, as genuine transformation cannot occur without collaboration. Each company is indeed a crucial node that intersects the local dimension, where our plants operate, with the international dimension of the market.
We therefore look to the future with confidence.
Driven by clear goals, we pursue them steadfastly, supported by capable and motivated individuals, and equipped with efficient technologies and processes with reduced environmental impact. All this, along with an exceptionally broad and high-quality range of offerings, represents the value we provide to those who wish to face the challenges ahead together.
Happy reading.
Giuseppe Pasini
Chairman of Feralpi Group
Immagine
