Special commissioners of the former Ilva factories, now Acciaierie d'Italia (ADI), located in Taranto in southern Italy, plan to file a lawsuit against ArcelorMittal in order to receive compensation in the amount of 5 billion euros. This step was announced by Italian Minister of Enterprises and Production Adolfo Urso, who referred to the damage suffered by the steel group during the years of management of the Franco-Indian giant.
According to the minister, the requested amount reflects losses caused by the deterioration of facilities, the lack of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, as well as the loss of ETS quotas accumulated in previous years. The lawsuit is expected to be filed between December 15th and 18th, with Morselli's management period at the center of the complaint. Minister Urso confirmed that there are no plans to close the steelmaking center in Taranto. On the contrary, almost a year ago, the commission members launched an emergency maintenance program with the aim of delivering safe and operational installations to a future buyer by March, ensuring a minimum production capacity of 4 million tons of steel per year.
In parallel, the search for a new private investor continues. The competitive procedure, launched after ADI was placed under state control in early 2024, has attracted interest from several players, but so far only a consortium led by Baku Steel with an Azerbaijani investment company and Indian Jindal Steel have expressed their willingness to acquire all assets. Since 2022, the state has already provided more than 2 billion euros in loans, subsidies and emergency support measures to maintain production.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis The Italian government recently announced new funds to support the activities of the former Ilva, while confirming the maintenance of current rules for access to short-term work schemes and ongoing negotiations with potential buyers. Another key step was the negotiations on the decarbonization plan, which led to the creation of an interinstitutional technical committee tasked with evaluating gas supply options and the feasibility of building four DRI plants planned for the future iron production center in Taranto, with the still-open question of a possible floating storage and regasification facility (FSRU).
The industrial side of this story is closely related to the environmental side. Brussels has sent Italy another letter officially notifying it of emissions violations at the Taranto facility, leaving open a violation procedure that has been going on for more than a decade and requires a rapid transition to lower-impact technologies. In this
