Acciaierie d’Itali has restarted converter No. 1 at its Taranto plant

Italian steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI), which is under administrative control, has announced the restart of converter No. 1 at the Acciaieria 2 plant in Taranto after an incident. This is according to data from LaGazzettaDelMezzogiorno.

Earlier, on November 14, the converter was shut down in accordance with safety procedures after an uncontrolled slag spill damaged the lower part of the mobile casing. This incident forced the company to take immediate action.

According to official information, the repair work was completed on November 21, taking about six days. This made it possible to prepare the units for a safe start-up and switch production operations as planned. During the downtime of converter No. 1, converter No. 2 was used, but with the restoration of the main unit, the company is returning to its usual schedule.

Acciaierie d’Italia said it will continue to monitor the technical condition of the equipment and provide scheduled technical support for all converters to avoid similar shutdowns in the future.

It should be noted that in mid-September, Acciaierie d’Italia announced an unplanned shutdown of blast furnace No. 4 at its Taranto plant, the only one still producing pig iron. According to representatives, the accident occurred due to damage to the rubber belt of conveyor No. 16, which is used to feed raw materials. The repair work was planned to be completed within 24 hours.

In addition, the company carried out a series of shutdowns of blast furnace No. 4 in November – a 24-hour shutdown on November 5 and a 3-day shutdown starting on November 10. These shutdowns are necessary to carry out maintenance work required for the stable operation of the blast furnace, the company said.

As reported by GMK Center, ADI continues to search for investors. In December, the Italian government plans to conduct a new round of searching for interested parties. In particular, a secret bidder has already gained access to the database, and Bedrock Industries and a consortium led by Flacks Group have expressed interest in the asset.