Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI), is to get a special commissioner to develop industry activities beyond steelmaking, according to a report by press agency Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA).
The goal is to “escape the steel monoculture,” states the governor of the region of Puglia, Michele Emiliano. An agreement signed by representatives of the national government and regional authorities proposes a new commissioner to oversee the reindustrialisation of the vacant areas of the Taranto plant
“The 18,000 workers who work around the steelworks will need to find a place within a broad reconstruction of the economy and life of the city itself,” said Emiliano.
A call for expressions of interest will explore potential new production investments in the area, Kallanish reads in the report.
With a transition of the plant to DRI steelmaking, fewer workers will be required than traditional coal-fired production, and a strategy to protect workers will be necessary. The redundancies could be partially offset by the construction of the DRI hub for the pre-reduced heat required to power the new furnaces, ANSA writes.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy authorised the publication of a new tender – the so-called “Letter of Procedure II” – for the sale of ADI. The new tender makes decarbonisation of the Taranto site mandatory, not optional (see Kallanish 8 August). Binding offers must be submitted by 15 September, with the draft sale contract to be made available in the data room by 31 August.
Christian Koehl Germany
