ArcelorMittal Italia closes steel plant in Taranto

ArcelorMittal Italia has informed local metallurgical unions that the company will be shutting down its steel mill # 1 in Taranto from Thursday 23 January until the end of March. At the same time, 250 out of 457 employees will be laid off, and the rest will be transferred to Steel Plant No. 2. Part of the production at Steel Plant # 1 will be transferred to Steel Plant # 2.

According to unions, the new production structure is due to poor supply of raw materials and current production capacity is related to the order situation.

The unions have expressed their opposition to the company's decision as they believe that the temporary relocation of production to Steel Plant # 2 could have negative consequences in terms of safety and the environment. They stated that “the choice of ArcelorMittal is unacceptable because to date, no industrial plan has been submitted to the government or trade union organizations. Accordingly, the immediate suspension of the unilateral initiative is required.