ArcelorMittal Italia and the Italian government have reopened negotiations to create a new industrial plan for former Italian steelmaker Ilva, Kallanish learns from a release issued by Italy’s Ministry of the Interior (Mise).  

The new plan would include new productive solutions and technologies and would ensure the utmost commitment in the environmental relaunch of the former Ilva plants, the statement says. This follows the latest meeting between prime minister Giuseppe Conte and ArcelorMittal’s Lakshmi Mittal and Aditya Mittal in Rome.

The Italian government is willing to support the project and involvement by the public was also discussed during the meeting, Conte said at a press conference. The main objective of this latest initiative is to reach an agreement. The government will therefore invite the Ilva commissioners to agree to a brief delay of the trial and to postpone the hearing set for 27 November. That is when the Milan tribunal will rule on ArcelorMittal’s right to withdraw from the acquisition.

This will give more time for the negotiation, Mise says in its statement. In the meantime, the government has asked ArcelorMittal to maintain normal operations at the plants and to guarantee continuity of production.

ArcelorMittal Italia had earlier revealed its plans to shut down equipment at the former Ilva steelmaking plant in Taranto. However, following that announcement, the steelmaker said that it will abide by the court's request to refrain from suspending operations and await the court’s ruling (see Kallanish passim).