Acciaierie d’Italia plans to start operating three blast furnaces in 2026

Italian steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI, formerly Ilva)’s special trustees aim to restart the Taranto steel mill with three blast furnaces (Nos. 1, 2 and 4) in the first quarter of 2026. This is reported by Kallanish.

At the same time, the restart plan will develop until mid-2026.

Maintenance work will be carried out on blast furnaces Nos. 1 and 2 in the coming months, special commissioners said at a meeting with authorities and unions in Rome last week.

In addition, a tender for the sale of assets was presented with the aim of completing the transaction within the year. The tender includes commitments on decarbonisation and aims to maximize employment and attract long-term investors.

Commissioners also stressed that the ADI layoff scheme was necessary to cut costs in preparation for the restart.

Financial resources in the amount of €320 million of a bridge loan approved by the European Commission and €300 million from the assets of the former Ilva under emergency administration were allocated to support the measures provided for in the restart plan.

As the Italian mass media reported, the former Ilva is now officially put up for sale – the Ministry of Business and Production of Italy authorized the publication of the notice, which was published on the Acciaierie d’Italia website. Applications for expressions of interest must be submitted by September 20 of the current year. According to the relevant agency, six companies have so far expressed interest in ADI.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in July 2024, the European Commission approved the provision of a bridge loan of €320 million for Acciaierie d’Italia. As the Ministry of Business and Production explained, the letter from Brussels contains a positive assessment of the terms of the loan, which provides for an interest rate of 11.6% per annum.