Milan’s Court of Appeal has reconfirmed its previous ruling requiring Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) to shut down the hot end at its Taranto steelworks by 28 October.
The ruling follows the 9 September hearing, when the court took an application by ADI’s special commissioners to suspend the order under advisement. The special commissioners had filed the suspension application following the original ruling of 27 July.
The government is considering taking a share of the future company when it is sold, but only if there is a solid industrial plan, undersecretary to the Prime Minister’s Office Alfredo Mantovano has said. Mantovano was an attendee of a recent meeting in Rome where the central government discussed the situation with the local authorities and the unions.
However, an informed source tells Kallanish the company sale remains elusive and the question about how to feed the cold end area remains unanswered.
CBAM has increased costs of imported slabs, and the European Commission may consider including semi-finished products in the quotas system. The cold end area is also in need of an expensive revamping.
Unions Fim, Fiom and Uilm are urging the government to set a date for an urgent meeting in light of the latest court ruling. “The social bomb must be prevented through both ordinary and extraordinary measures. Workers must be protected,” a union note says.
Authorities remain in talks with Jindal Steel International for the sale of the company while 14 Italian steelmakers have formed a consortium and may submit a binding offer. US investment firm Flacks Group has abandoned the race and may instead submit a new offer for Taranto’s real estate assets.
Following the ruling, Giorgia Meloni told local press a new meeting would be convened in Rome to address ADI’s situation. “We work with what we have and with decisions that are not ours. But we will certainly continue to do our best. There was already a working group in place, which I presume will be reconvened immediately to move forward. This is one of the files on which we are spending the greatest number of hours,” Meloni is reported as saying by Ansa.
