Italian steel king Emilio Riva dies

ANSA has reported that the Italian king of steel, Emilio Riva, has died at the age of 87. The Italian Steel Federation said Italy had lost a big captain in industry. The Riva Empire is the third largest in Europe and the 18th largest in the world. It includes the troubled ILVA group with the acclaimed Taranto plant, which has been at the center of a long legal and environmental scrape.

Mr. Riva, who founded his group in 1954, took over the state-owned ILVA facility in 1995 to reach the top of the Italian steel pillar. But the facility was partially expropriated when judges seized most of the assets of the Taranto plant, demanding damages related to the environment and the recruitment of laid-off workers.

In 1954, Riva Acciaio was founded in Milan by Emilio and his brother Adriano to trade in scrap iron. In 1957, the first Riva Acciaio mini factory was built in Caronno Pertusella. A few years later, this plant became the first to manufacture steel structures in Italy using continuous casting, in partnership with the engineers at the Danieli Steel Works.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Riva expanded through the acquisition of several small steel producers in Northern Italy and Spain (SIDERURGICA Sevillana). In 1980, Riva made further acquisitions in Italy, Belgium and France. In 1991 he acquired two mini factories in the former German Democratic Republic. In 1995, Riva Acciaio acquired ILVA.