Italian Simest, part of state financial institution Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), is investing €15 million ($16m) in Italian merchant bar maker Acciaierie Beltrame’s Swiss subsidiary Stahl Gerlafingen AG to support the company’s international growth and energy transition.
“The funds, which also include the intervention of the Venture Capital Fund, will be used to consolidate the company’s presence in the Swiss market and to carry out the modernisation of the production plant,” Simest explains in a joint note seen by Kallanish. It adds it has become a minority shareholder in Stahl Gerlafingen AG.
Beltrame is dedicating this year a total of €58m in investment to its Swiss division to improve energy and production efficiency with the aim to cut 20% emissions and lower energy spending. The funds injected by Simest will also help the steelmaker boost its commercial presence in Switzerland and other neighbouring countries.
The steelmaker says that its main objective is to maintain high equipment standards and guarantee a qualitative finished product capable of meeting ESG criteria. The installation of a new furnace in the rolling mill at the Stahl Gerlafingen site, including the modernisation works planned for the entire production plant, “will allow us to be more competitive in an increasingly competitive steel market,” AFV Beltrame Group cfo Raffaele Ruella concludes.
Natalia Capra France
