Bekaert, in partnership with Nuova Icom, is making a 40 million investment and creating 200 jobs
A forty-million investment, the retention of 150 jobs and the creation of a further 50. These are the figures behind the revival of the Macchiareddu plant, which is set to pass from Bekaert to Nuova Icom, a Sardinian company operating in the metalworking sector with contracts ranging from the construction of industrial plants to metal structural work, pipework and major infrastructure projects for the energy, oil & gas and renewable energy sectors.
The new direction for the company’s plant, located in the industrial zone of the Cagliari metropolitan area, was presented during a press conference attended by the President of the Region, Alessandra Todde, the Regional Councillor for Industry, Emanuele Cani, and the sole director, Alessandro Calledda, provides for the safeguarding of all current jobs, ‘with plans to increase the workforce by 50 positions in the near future, bringing the total to over 200 employees’.
“In 2019, I was at the Ministry of Economic Development when Bekaert announced the closure of its Tuscan plant, whilst the one in Macchiareddu – which produced steel cord for tyres – was regarded as a centre of excellence,” emphasised the President of the Region. Now that the multinational is leaving Sardinia and the country, we have found a growing company with a corporate culture deeply rooted in our island, such as Nuova Icom, which has presented a serious and robust redevelopment plan. As a Region, we aim to pursue an industrial policy that supports companies such as Nuova Icom and boosts employment; to this end, we have already funded a 3 million training programme for former Bekaert workers and we aim to attract other major groups in the near future to launch new production chains.”
The starting point for this new industrial and entrepreneurial journey is the company’s base, which benefits from both domestic and international contracts. “Nuova Icom is a company with over a thousand employees and major clients such as Saipem, which operates across multiple sites and already has production facilities up and running in Porto Canale. It aims to become a true hub and create a new supply chain, demonstrating that Sardinia is capable of fostering a thriving industrial sector – added Emanuele Cani, Regional Councillor for Industry. ‘In the coming days we will be announcing further developments, including the resolution of a long-standing dispute, which further demonstrates how a new industry is emerging in Sardinia.’
The acquisition of the plant is due to be finalised by 15 October and, as highlighted by Nuova Icom’s sole director, Alessandro Calledda, ‘involves a total investment of 40 million’. “However, our aim is to get the staff back to work straight away on our production lines in the workshops at the canal port, whilst we refurbish the plant for the new production,” remarked the director. “The workers possess exceptional skills and a strong work ethic, and we aim to hire even more than the 50 new staff members originally planned in the near future. We build subsea structures for gas extraction and are among only 15 companies worldwide specialising in this field, with clients such as Saipem, Eni, Total and the Norwegian firm Equinor. We need welders, metalworkers and highly skilled mechanical engineers, and we are developing a sort of academy to recruit them locally in Sardinia.”
