Belgian wire making group Bekaert says it has signed a preliminary agreement with Nuova Icom, a Sardinian industrial engineering and metalworking company, for the reindustrialisation of its Macchiareddu site in Sardinia, Italy.
Over recent years, structural changes in the tyre industry have impacted market demand and the competitive position of Bekaert’s wire reinforcement site in Sardinia, Kallanish learns from a statement by the group. It says that production activity at the site has progressively declined, and tyre cord production is no longer viable under current market conditions.
According to Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, reasons for the crisis highlighted by the company are transport costs that are three times higher than those of competitors, and “unsustainable” energy supply conditions in Sardinia, which penalise energy-intensive companies.
The plant provides work for 237 direct employees and about 50 in allied industries. The preliminary agreement signed with Nuova Icom provides for the transfer of Bekaert’s site as well as the reemployment of Bekaert employees.
Workers and unions Fiom, Fsm and Uil are in permanent assembly until Thursday. The announced sale not only offers no guarantees, but also risks the silent dismantling of an industrial reality that still represents a strategic stronghold for Sardinia’s economy, the paper quotes a representative as saying.
The transaction is anticipated to close in October.
