An Italian court ruled on Tuesday, January 7, that blast furnace No. 2 at the Taranto-based Ilva steel plant will not have to shut down despite concerns it breaches safety rules, local media have reported. The decision overturns an order issued by a local in mid-December.
The shutdown of blast furnace No. 2 would have resulted in the use of the extraordinary redundancy fund for 3,500 workers, according to sources. Also, it is thought that the latest decision will have a positive impact on the negotiations between the Italian government and ArcelorMittal. As reported previously, ArcelorMittal announced in November last year that it was pulling out of a 2018 deal to buy the Ilva plant, giving the order for the shutdown of blast furnace No. 2 as one of the reasons behind its move. In late December, ArcelorMittal signed a non-binding agreement with the Ilva commissioners which represented a basis to continue negotiations on a new industrial plan for the Taranto-based plant. The negotiations will continue until January 31.