Following the recent ruling by the Court of Review in the southern Italian city of Taranto that blast furnace No. 2 at the local Ilva steel plant operated by ArcelorMittal will not have to be shut down, Alessandro Banzato, president of the Italian steel producers' association Federacciai has expressed his "full satisfaction" with respect to the court decision.
The Federacciai president went on to state that, thanks to this decision, negotiations between ArcelorMittal and the Italian government can continue "on the basis of the agreement that was reached at the end of last year by ArcelorMittal and by the commissioners of Ilva in extraordinary administration." Mr. Banzato also expressed the hope that "by the end of the month a complete agreement can be reached which will safeguard production and workforce."