Taranto-based Italian steel producer Ilva has asked local prosecutors for a delay of 10 days regarding the shutdown of its blast furnace No. 2 ordered in a recent ruling by judges after an accident in which a 35-year-old worker was killed by a jet of molten metal.
The 10 days would allow Ilva to make an appeal against the judges’ decision and would also allow the company to reduce the time between the halting of blast furnace No. 2 and the restart of blast furnace No. 1, which has been idle for two and a half years and which will restart production in late July-early August after being adjusted to environmental requirements.
In this way, Ilva would be able to limit any negative impact on its activities and employment. Without blast furnace No. 2, the company can only run its blast furnace No. 4, but this alone will not ensure either the safety of the whole plant and the operation of the unit that recovers and converts the gas coming from blast furnaces into energy. The Taranto-based association of industrial producers has warned it will be impossible for Ilva to run its plants with only blast furnace No. 4 functioning.