ArcelorMittal and Italian authorities near agreement on Ilva

ArcelorMittal Italia and the Italian government are said to be close to signing a draft of agreement before the upcoming March hearing that will rule on the ownership of Italian former steelmaker Ilva.

So far unconfirmed reports suggest that the draft agreement contains a clause allowing ArcelorMittal to leave Ilva as from 1 November upon payment of a total of €500 million penalty ($552m). If the company however decides to stay it will have to pay €1.2 billion. According to sources close to the matter interviewed by Kallanish, ArcelorMittal is said to have conceded to making temporary layoffs instead of job cuts, although this is once again unsubstantiated.

Meanwhile over the past days a cloud of toxic smoke emitted from equipment at the Taranto site has created more pressures for the company. The mayor of Taranto Rinaldo Melucci has issued an injunction against the company and the former Ilva commissioners giving them 30 days to resolve the issue. If this is not resolved, the parties will have to shut down the equipment within 60 days, a source at the city hall confirms.

ArcelorMittal and the Italian government agreed on 7 February to postpone the tribunal hearing over the ownership of the former Italian steelmaker Ilva.  Just a few hours before the hearing was due to take place, both parties submitted a draft agreement and asked the tribunal to delay the ruling. The hearing has therefore been postponed to 6 March (see Kallanish 9 February).