Acciaierie d’Italia needs a strong industrial plan – Federacciai president

Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) needs a serious industrial and decarbonization plan to survive, especially with the start of CBAM implementation. This opinion was expressed by the president of the Italian association of steel producers Federacciai Antonio Gozzi, informs Kallanish.

According to him, if the private partner (the ArcelorMittal corporation) does not intend to invest significant funds in restarting the plant, it is necessary to find another solution that will allow Italy to continue to maintain this strategic asset for the national steel industry.

He adds that the government, a stakeholder in ADI, needs to find a way to revive the steel company by consolidating its assets, as well as continuing the decarbonisation process and streamlining jobs.

At the same time, according to Italian media, Acciaierie d’Italia has expressed its concern about the press statements made by Antonio Gozzi and the criticism of the company, its management and ArcelorMittal, one of the shareholders. ADI recalled that it is connected with the Italian Federacciai and believes that its president should protect the company’s interests and image.

Unions and management at Acciaierie d’Italia, a joint venture between state-owned Invitalia and ArcelorMittal, are at loggerheads over worker safety and commitments to restore a steel plant in Taranto. In September, the ADI unions sent a letter to the Italian authorities requesting an urgent meeting and warning of a possible stoppage of production.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the situation at the enterprise in Taranto is heavy, of which the government is aware, said Franco Bernabe, president of Acciaierie d’Italia, at the end of September. He noted that it is necessary to guarantee the survival of the company, since the steel plant cannot finance itself, cannot purchase raw materials, and is experiencing great difficulties due to the low level of production.

Acciaierie d’Italia is controlled by the steel company ArcelorMittal through Am InvestCo, a subsidiary of the corporation that agreed to acquire the former Ilva plant, and by the state through the national investment agency Invitalia.

Also, this year the ADI plant in Taranto planned to produce 4 million tons of steel, and 5 million tons to go into production in 2024. In addition, it was announced that in the second half of 2023, the steel plant plans to start the reconstruction of blast furnace №5, which has been idle for many years.