Italy and Metinvest sign a declaration on the construction of a steel plant in Piombino

Ukraine and Italy have taken another step toward strengthening economic cooperation. At the Italian-Ukrainian Business Forum in Rome, the Italian Ministry of Business and Metinvest Group signed a declaration on the construction of a steel plant in Piombino. This €2.5 billion environmentally oriented project is part of Italy’s efforts to revive its steel industry, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

“This agreement marks another step by the Italian steel industry towards the recovery of production using green technologies. In Piombino, we have carried out a win-win action: on the one hand, we have fulfilled the promise made to the territory to develop the industrial zone and to preserve, if not increase, jobs and an important training project. On the other hand, we have signed a partnership with Ukraine in the name of peace and friendship that binds us to this nation,” commented Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Production of Italy.

The new plant is to be built on an area of 260 hectares, with a planned capacity of 2.7 million tons of hot-rolled coils per year. Using Ukrainian raw materials, the production will help reduce Italy’s dependence on steel imports from outside the EU.

“This project, with a capacity of about 3 million tons of steel, will play a crucial role in Italy’s transition to green technology by introducing sustainable and environmentally friendly industrial methods. In addition, it will help to increase the utilization of our iron ore mining and processing facilities in Ukraine, which will lead to their modernization to produce high-quality pellets,” said Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group.

In addition to the steel plant, the plan includes measures to preserve jobs, develop an industrial zone and introduce training programs. Work at the site could start as early as late 2024 or early 2025, with first steel expected in 2027.

The project is being implemented in partnership with Italian company Danieli. This initiative will also help increase the utilization of Ukrainian ore mining and processing facilities, creating new opportunities for the modernization of the steel sector. The Italian agency SACE and banks, including Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, have expressed their willingness to financially support the project.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-September 2024, Metinvest increased production of iron ore concentrate by 63% y/y – to 12.24 million tonnes, steel by 5% y/y – to 1.61 million tonnes, and pig iron by 2% y/y – to 1.37 million tonnes. Production of commercial steel products fell by 3% y/y – to 2.3 million tons, including semi-finished products by 5% y/y – to 626 thousand tons and rolled products by 3% y/y – to 1.68 million tons.