Ex Ilva begins shutting down Taranto blast furnaces after Cassation ruling

The shutdown begins

Acciaierie d'Italia told the metalworkers' unions in Taranto on Tuesday, 3 November, that the shutdown of the blast furnaces had started that morning. The notice covers furnaces 1, 2 and 4, although only furnace 2 is currently running. Furnace 1 has been under a prosecutors' seizure since May 2025, after a fire, and furnace 4 had already been stopped for maintenance. The coke ovens are being shut down as well. A contractor named Liz Italia in union statements is switching off the burners that kept the Cowpers of furnace 2 preheated, and the unions say the work will finish by the end of the week, meaning by Sunday, 8 November.

A court ruling closes the hot area

The Court of Cassation issued a 60-page judgment on 29 October that rejected the appeals filed by Ilva in AS and Acciaierie d'Italia (AdI). In doing so it confirmed a decree of the Milan Court of Appeal, dated 27 July, that halts the hot area, which includes the coke ovens, the blast furnaces and the steel mills. The case began with a motion from 11 citizens who belong to the Genitori Tarantini association, brought on health grounds. Il Fatto Quotidiano cites 2,140 tonnes of asbestos in the blast furnace structures as a potential risk behind the stoppage. Il Fatto Quotidiano also notes that the first blast furnace at the Taranto plant was lit on 19 November 1964, so the ruling closes about 60 years of industrial history.

Buyers and the 8 November deadline

Binding bids are due on 8 November. Several media reports on Tuesday said a consortium of Italian companies led by the steel federation Federacciai, which had expressed interest in the plant, will not bid for the cold-rolled production area. Federacciai president Antonio Gozzi did not confirm that reading.

“A decision has not yet been made.”

Gozzi added that the consortium would announce its position once a decision was reached. Other parties that have expressed interest are the Indian group Jindal, the Czech group CE Industries and the US private investment group Flacks. Il Fatto Quotidiano reports that most Italian steelmakers in the consortium do not want to proceed because of costs, so it is not certain that offers will arrive by the deadline. Premier Giorgia Meloni's government has not ruled out State involvement, given the strategic importance of steel.

Workers, mills and wage support

According to AGI, strip mill 2 will restart on 10 November to process slabs brought in from outside, and the plant director Benedetto Valli informed the unions of this. A small group of employees will return from the cassa integrazione wage guarantee scheme for that work. AGI reports that the mill will run until shortly before Christmas, then stop, and restart in January. Il Sole 24 Ore reports separately that the Tna strip mill in the rolling area will run until 14 December, stop again, and restart in January for about a month. The unions received a summons from the Labour ministry on Monday, 2 November, for a joint examination of the request for extraordinary wage guarantee at 10:30 on 6 November.

Prosecutors and the plant's background

In the last week of October, prosecutors asked for house arrest for three people: former AdI president and CEO Lucia Morselli, former plant director Alessandro Labile, and Francesco Astorri, director of the environmental agency Ispra for checks on strategic facilities. The request concerns potentially cancer-causing emissions from the factory in 2022 and 2023. The plant was once Europe's biggest steelworks and has been dogged by economic problems in recent years, and it is linked to high cancer rates in the port city of Taranto. AdI was put under State-controlled administration in early 2024, after ArcelorMittal's ownership of the group ended in a bitter split.