Former Ilva: ‘We’ve halted production due to the court order and because we’ve run out of raw materials’

However, Acciaierie is halting operations not only because of the court order but also because the raw materials required for production in Taranto – starting with the ores – have now run out. The company, describing this as ‘a decisive factor from both an operational and financial perspective’, also explains why.

‘Orders for raw materials required for production, if they could not be used or processed by 25 October – the end of the 90-day period – would have remained in stock without the possibility of being processed within the scheduled timeframe. In extraordinary administration proceedings, it is not possible to use resources at the expense of the company’s creditors to fund the purchase and storage of materials that cannot be used within the scope of the permitted continuity of production.”

AdI also reiterates that ‘the temporary shutdown does not affect Taranto alone. The plants in Novi Ligure and Genoa are directly dependent on Taranto’s production for their steel supply, as they do not have their own hot-rolling mill. The resulting interruption to upstream operations will inevitably lead to the shutdown of downstream plants as well’.

And there is also a response to the request made by the Ligurian local authorities, led by the Mayor of Genoa, Silvia Salis, namely to purchase on the market what is needed in Genoa and Novi Ligure – goods that currently come from Taranto – so as not to deprive the plants in the north of their production.

“With regard to the proposals put forward by certain public officials to purchase slabs and coils,” AdI points out, “it is necessary to take into account the timeframe and the actual market conditions. Procuring slabs is not an immediate solution. Several months may elapse between placing an order and delivery, without immediately resolving the critical issues linked to the plant shutdown, not to mention that the slabs sourced on the international market must meet the quality standards required by AdI’s customers in AS. ‘Every possible avenue to avert the shutdown has been explored,’ says the company, ‘through the use of available legal remedies and in an attempt to identify alternative solutions that would allow production to continue.’

And it is essential that ‘the political and institutional debate takes account of the entire judicial, industrial and financial context within which the Special Administration has been called upon to operate’.

Statement from the company managed by the special administrators: ‘Every possible avenue to avert the shutdown has been explored, through the use of available legal remedies and in an attempt to identify alternative solutions that would enable production to continue.’

It is therefore emphasised that ‘the temporary suspension became inevitable only after the requests submitted were rejected and it proved impossible to operate beyond the imposed limits’. The case now moves to the Court of Cassation, where the Attorney General has already expressed a very different position from that of the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal and the Court of Appeal itself, thus opening up a glimmer of hope that could potentially lead to an outcome other than a permanent shutdown. Indeed, AdI comments: “We remain hopeful that, following the hearing on 20 October, the Court of Cassation will reach a decision capable of preventing the permanent closure of the facilities.”