Antonio Gozzi: Judiciary must lift seizure for Taranto relaunch

A “hybrid” production model combining the integrated cycle and electric arc furnaces fed by a direct reduced iron plant may be the best option for Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI)’s Taranto steelworks, Federacciai president and Duferco owner Antonio Gozzi told Kallanish on the sidelines of last week’s Made in Steel event in Milan.

Critical issues remain unresolved. The environmental works at Taranto have been almost completed in full, but it is unknown why the Taranto judiciary is not lifting the seizure of the equipment. “These [environmental] interventions were impressive and today Taranto is probably the world’s most environmentally friendly steel plant,” Gozzi said during Federacciai’s annual meeting organised at the tradeshow.

“The visits I have made to Taranto in recent months convinced me that the political and institutional climate has also improved because there is a perceived possibility of opening a new phase and a new era, which is that of decarbonisation and production of green steel,” he added.

The definition of the industrial plan between ADI’s private shareholder, ArcelorMittal, a member of Federacciai, and the public shareholder, Invitalia, is developing “with difficulties”, Gozzi observed. If the private-public partnership is not effective enough to relaunch the plant, it will be necessary “to think about something else … It is time to overcome uncertainties …We, as Federacciai, have never been ideologically against the presence of the state in the company’s shareholding, which must manage the relaunch of the former Ilva in Taranto, especially at such a difficult time,” he commented.

“However, we have always conceived this presence as transitory but necessary and aimed at accompanying the process of recovery of this strategic asset for the country, in order to then put it back on the market,” Gozzi stated.

An informed source tells Kallanish the steelmaker continues to have difficulties paying its debt. If the judiciary does not lift the seizure, credit lines cannot be extended, which slows payments to suppliers together with the production ramp-up. Despite this situation, actions to restart blast furnace number 2 are underway, with a possible resumption in June.

During Federacciai’s annual meeting, Gozzi referred to an even more problematic situation at JSW Steel Italy in Piombino, where he says the foreign owners had no real plan apart from that of bagging state financial aid.

“One gets the feeling that by exploiting the understandable concerns of the local area and the workers, one wants to opportunistically manage the situation to make the most of it in terms of state aid … We will not accept the construction of electric furnaces, perhaps financed in part by the state, without clarifying how the EAFs will be powered and where the scrap will be procured,” Gozzi stressed.

At Acciai Speciali Terni, the arrival of Arvedi represented a turning point, restoring a serious and sustainable industrial perspective to this very important producer, he noted. “Where Italian steelmakers are involved, things are simpler and proceed better,” Gozzi declared.

Natalia Capra France