Acciaierie d’Italia plans to restart blast furnace No. 1

Italian steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) plans to restart blast furnace No. 1 on October 15, 2024. The ceremony in Taranto will be attended by the company’s special commissioners and Italian Minister of Enterprise and Production Adolfo Urso, Kallanish reports.

“The start-up of the blast furnace represents an important step in the restart plan of Acciaierie d’Italia and confirms the commitment of the special commissioners, the Italian government, and the company to proceed with the restoration of production activity at the steel plant,” the company said in a statement.

At the moment, only blast furnace No. 4 is operating in Taranto, while blast furnace No. 5 has been out of service for several years, and blast furnaces No. 1 and No. 2 were shut down several months ago.

ADI plans to reach production of 1.9-2.2 million tons of steel in 2024. However, sources believe that actual production will be lower. Blast furnace No. 2 is scheduled to restart in the first quarter of 2025. By the first quarter of 2026, the company plans to operate blast furnaces No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, and production in 2025 could reach 4.5-5 million tons.

As GMK Center reported, in late March this year, it became known that Acciaierie d’Italia would receive an additional €120 million to cover its debts. The financial guarantee for the deal was provided by the Sace Group, which is controlled by the Italian Ministry of Economy. The funds were in addition to another €100 million credit line that Sace opened to cover ADI’s debts to customers. In addition, Italy has allocated €150 million for the maintenance of the Taranto plant.