ArcelorMittal Italy challenges

Alessandro Banzato, President of the Italian steel federation Federacciai, said: “In Italy we have a peculiar situation with ArcelorMittal Italia, the largest Italian flat steel producer, which is currently operating at the lowest historical production rate. Thus, it will affect the total production of Italy. " ArcelorMittal Italia is expected to produce around 3.5 million tonnes of crude steel this year, up from 5 million tonnes in 2019 with an installed capacity of around 11 million tonnes per year.

“We all know the challenges that ArcelorMittal Italia, the former Ilva mill, is facing. Personally, I think that at this point we should expect the Italian government to take part in the company, ”he said. “Maybe ArcelorMittal Italia will be able to use some of the funds in the Fair Transition Mechanism to make ArcelorMittal Italia greener, but it is currently not clear how much not only the former Ilva will be able to use the money, but the Italian steel industry as a whole,” said Banzato.

EU leaders agreed to launch the Fair Transition Mechanism in June to ensure that the transition to a climate neutral economy occurs in an equitable manner. It is providing targeted support to help mobilize at least € 150 billion (US $ 176 billion) over 2021-27. In the most affected regions, to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the energy transition.

Banzato took over as CEO at Federacciai in 2018. He is also the CEO of Acciairie Venete. The company is one of the main steel producers, or SBQ, in Italy. Acciairie Venete is not on the list, which means the latest available data refers to 2019, when it produced 1.41 million tonnes of steel products, up from 1.25 million tonnes in 2018 and a capacity of 2 million tonnes in year.