Italy's Taranto Steelworks: Supreme Court Upholds Order to Shut Blast Furnaces, About 8,000 Jobs in Doubt
Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation ruled in a written decision on October 29 to uphold a Milan court order requiring the shutdown of the blast furnaces at the former Ilva steelworks in Taranto, in the country's south, on health and environmental grounds. The plant, now called Acciaierie d'Italia, is Italy's only integrated steelmaker and was once Europe's largest steel plant; the future of its roughly 8,000 direct employees is now more uncertain.
The judges said the original decision was 'correct and well-founded.' The ruling is a blow to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government and its efforts to rescue the country's biggest steelmaker, less than a year before a general election. Meloni had pledged that the government would do 'everything possible' to keep production going, and said her government had invested about 5 billion euros (about $5.6 billion) in the steelmaker since taking office in 2022.
The company has warned that shutting the blast furnaces could lead to the plant's permanent closure. The government recently extended the deadline for binding bids for the steelmaker to November 9. India's Jindal Steel International is seen as the frontrunner, while a consortium of Italian steelmakers coordinated by the industry body Federacciai is interested in part of the assets.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 意大利塔兰托钢厂日落远景（资料图）。The Taranto steelworks in Italy at sunset (file photo). CC0，DimiTalen摄，经Wikimedia Commons / photo by DimiTalen, via Wikimedia Commons.
