Dear Readers,

We are pleased to present the new Padana Tubi Sustainability Report for 2023, which comprehensively details our activities in the ESG areas according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.

With an overarching commitment to sustainability, we share with our stakeholders the environmental impact of our business activities, initiatives and goals for health and safety at work, economic and financial underpinnings and indicators and the principles that inspire corporate governance.

Over the past year, various global geopolitcal events have created a climate of uncertainty and negatively impacted economic systems.

The ongoing war in Ukraine, leading Europe to extend economic sanctions against Russia, has resulted in additional restrictions in the steel sector.

In the second half of the year, the Middle East experienced destabilisation due to escalation of conflict. Consequently, new questions have arisen regarding energy products, primarily gas and oil, with concerns about potential price issues. Navigation in the Suez Canal has been, and continues to be, threatened by military attacks, leading to extended shipping routes to Europe and increased international freight costs, including for steel imports and exports.

China’s industrial and infrastructural growth has not shown the expected vigour following the end of the Covid pandemic, and international prices of steel as well as related raw materials are heavily negatively affected by the weakness of demand and production in China and throughout the Far East.

The increase in interest rates, which began in the second half of 2022 and continued into 2023 to contain the growth of inflation, has exacerbated the crisis in the construction sector and many steel-consuming industrial sectors across Europe.

While 2022 was characterised by the uncontrolled exponential growth in gas and electricity prices, 2023, partly due to reductions in industrial consumption, has seen a progressive and lasting decline in prices, benefiting industrial costs.

In this complex scenario, the role of the enterprise as a social and environmental community is becoming increasingly evident. It is important and necessary to consolidate virtuous relationships with its territory in a broad sense, to value the skills of the workers and protect their safety, to seize improvement opportunities from clients and suppliers, and to manage business activities in an ethical and transparent manner.

As you will see upon reading this report, the issues we have identified as “material” have prompted us to define objectives and embark on improvement paths in significant environmental, social, and governance areas.

Among these, to name a few, the process of obtaining EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) certifications for all product families has been successfully completed. The official declarations from the relevant authority were issued at the beginning of January 2024, underlining the company’s commitment to monitoring its environmental and social impact.

Audits are continuously carried out to maintain all the organisation, product, and process certifications obtained over the years (ISO 9001, ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 14064).

The attention and vigilance on workplace safety are extremely high, which is an absolute priority for the entire organisation. This includes widespread training, continuous exchanges, and discussions between the various company entities and workers to promote increasing awareness and the dissemination of a safety culture.

Europe is clearly pursuing a path of change in social, environmental, and economic dynamics, increasingly driven by the growing awareness of new generations, who anticipate and lead the choices and methods of institutions.

This requires, and will increasingly demand, synergistic and coordinated actions from production chains. It is necessary to abandon old competitive logics confined to short-term scenarios and instead embrace a long-term vision capable of preserving value growth and the survival of European industry.

It is a challenging path, yet full of opportunities, in which we are certain that Padana Tubi, thanks to the contribution of its stakeholders, will continue to be a credible and motivated player.

We leave you with these thoughts as you review our Sustainability Report, appreciative of any contributions you, our stakeholders, may wish to provide.

Alfieri Family