Italian steelmaker Arvedi has shut down production at its steelmaking plant in Cremona this week. While the firm refused to comment, informed sources tell Kallanish it is mothballing the facility because producing at the current cost of energy has become unprofitable.

Demand for coil remains particularly weak in Italy, with no signs of a recovery in the short term. The further production cuts in September should also rebalance supply with demand, while coil stocks remain medium-high throughout the country.

The Cremona plant will remain idle for the entire week and future restart plans are still unclear. Producers are “living by the day”, one source says. They are hoping for government intervention this week to support the industry.

Meanwhile, Acciaierie d'Italia, the joint venture between ArcelorMittal and state-owned Invitalia, is also reducing utilisation at its Taranto steelworks. The steelmaker, formerly known as Ilva, mothballed blast furnace no.2 in August amid the downturn in prices and demand in the global coil market. At present, Taranto is working using two BFs.

At the end of 2021, the steelmaker mothballed blast furnace no.4 because of a technical issue. In October 2021, BFs no.1 and 4 were restarted. The latter was idled for about seven months and the company spent €70 million ($69m) on upgrade works.