Italian steel reroller Ferriera Valsider declared force majeure at its plant located in Vallese di Oppeano on Aug. 17, owner Metinvest confirmed to Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.
“Ferriera Valsider has experienced a force majeure event that has resulted in the suspension of production,” Metinvest said in a statement shared via email. “The company has informed its customers, suppliers and other relevant stakeholders accordingly.”
Metinvest said technical teams are working to “define and implement the shortest possible action plan for the necessary repairs,” with the aim of restoring production as soon as possible, it added.
However, Metinvest said that assessment of the incident is still underway and that it cannot yet provide a timeframe for the restart of operations.
In a letter dated August 2026, sent to its buyers and seen by Platts, Ferriera Valsider said the event had triggered clause 8, the force majeure provision in its general terms and conditions of sale governing customer contracts. The letter described the incident as an “extraordinary, sudden and unforeseeable breakdown” that was beyond the company’s reasonable control.
The incident resulted in the “immediate and complete shutdown” of Ferriera Valsider’s production lines, according to the letter.
“At this time, we are unable to determine the duration of the force majeure event, which is expected to be significant,” the company said in the letter.
Ferriera Valsider said it had taken “all necessary and appropriate actions to manage the emergency,” and told customers it would provide an update on the situation by the end of August.
The company also said sales representatives would contact buyers individually to discuss current orders.
Ferriera Valsider did not disclose the nature of the issue, the equipment affected or the expected volume impact.
Ferriera Valsider is based in Vallese di Oppeano, in the province of Verona, northern Italy, and operates as one of Metinvest’s European steel rerolling facilities, producing steel plate and hot-rolled coil. The company supplies steel plate for shipbuilding, energy, construction and infrastructure applications in the EU, according to Metinvest’s Ferriera Valsider website.
Along with Metinvest Trametal in San Giorgio di Nogaro, Ferriera Valsider is part of Metinvest’s Italian plate rerolling platform, with the two units having about 1.2 million metric tons/year of flat-product capacity across plate and hot-rolled coil, according to the company’s website.
Platts assessed heavy plate in Italy at €710/mt ex-works on Aug. 14, stable week over week but down €60 from the 2026 high in April. Platts assessed imported slab in Italy at $550/mt CIF on Aug. 14, unchanged week over week and down $50/mt from the 2026 high in June.
