Taranto-based Italian steel producer Acciaierie d’Italia, which is currently in extraordinary administration, has announced an unplanned stoppage of blast furnace No. 4, following damage to conveyor belt No. 16.
The failure, a cut in the rubber belt that interrupted feeding operations, required the immediate shutdown of the furnace, which was carried out in accordance with standard safety procedures. The company underlined that the incident did not cause any safety issues for the connected production units.
Repair work, involving the replacement of the rubber belt, is currently underway and is expected to be completed overnight between September 16 and 17, allowing the blast furnace to return to normal operation.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, the overall conditions at the site remain critical: BF No. 1 has been offline since an accident in May 2025, BF No. 2 has been idle since January 2024, while BF No. 4 had already been running at reduced capacity due to a previous malfunction in the coke feeding system.