Acciaierie d'Italia in amministrazione straordinaria says hot-area production will be suspended from 9 October, following the Milan Court of Appeal decree of 27 July and the rejection notified on 5 October.
The Court of Cassation is set to hear the appeal against the closure of the hot area on 20 October, the ruling that administrators had sought to await before any suspension.
Acciaierie d'Italia plans a temporary general stop of the Genoa and Novi Ligure plants by 15 November, which mayors Silvia Salis and Rocchino Muliere called unacceptable.
Union sources cite 125 million for worker protection, including 80 million for contractor cassa in deroga and about 45 million for Acciaierie and Ilva staff, with support possibly lasting until the end of June.
At Novi Ligure, 541 staff are on the payroll and just under a third are on cassa integrazione, with Cisl's Moreno Vacchina saying work could end by the first week of November.
Acciaierie d'Italia in amministrazione straordinaria told the prefect, local authorities and police that production in the hot area of the Taranto plant will be suspended from 9 October. The company said the step complies with the Milan Court of Appeal decree of 27 July, after its request to suspend that order was rejected, a rejection notified on 5 October. The administrators and AdI S.p.A., which owns the plant, had asked for a suspension pending a Court of Cassation ruling on the appeal against the closure of the hot area. That hearing is set for 20 October. The company has also announced it will request social shock absorbers (ammortizzatori sociali) for affected workers.
The July ruling followed a motion on health grounds presented by members of a parents' association and a child with a rare genetic mutation. The court said activity in the hot area must stop within three months unless all asbestos on the site is removed and particulate emissions are brought within safe limits. The Taranto plant, once Europe's biggest steelworks, has been dogged by economic problems and linked to high cancer rates in the port city. ADI was put under State-controlled administration in early 2024 after ArcelorMittal's ownership of the group ended acrimoniously. Federacciai said in August that its board had tasked president Antonio Gozzi with expressing interest in taking over the plant for a consortium of Italian companies. Indian group Jindal, Czech group CE industries and US-based Flacks have also expressed interest, and Premier Giorgia Meloni's government has not ruled out State involvement.
The same decree led Acciaierie d'Italia to announce a temporary general stop of the Genoa and Novi Ligure plants by 15 November. In a joint note, the mayors of Genoa and Novi Ligure, Silvia Salis and Rocchino Muliere, called the announced shutdown completely unacceptable. Their note also stated the following.
“The consequences of the continued delays in the sale of ex Ilva cannot once again fall on workers, their families and the towns where they live and work.”
At Novi Ligure, 541 staff are on the payroll and just under a third are on cassa integrazione, with three installations stopped. The Racconigi plant is effectively inactive. Moreno Vacchina of Cisl described the output.
“Now we only produce material for industrial metal drums used to transport oil.”
Vacchina added that the last steel slabs would arrive in the coming days, but that by the first week of November there would be no more work. Piedmont president Alberto Cirio linked the crisis to the wider steel sector.
“Ilva is a national issue that involves not only Taranto and Puglia, but also the Piedmont plants and the hundreds of workers involved.”
The government met unions at Palazzo Chigi and said it intends to bring a decree-law to the next Council of ministers with social protections for workers. The measure is framed as a Cassa integrazione for continuity rather than for a closure of activity. Union sources put the package at 125 million, of which 80 million would fund cassa in deroga for contractor workers (indotto-appalto) and about 45 million would top up the extraordinary cassa for Acciaierie and Ilva staff. The support could run until the end of June. Blast furnace 2 is due to stop within hours and be placed on preheating at minimum technical level without producing pig iron.
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Puglia regional president Antonio Decaro expressed hope for a solution from the coming days of meetings.
“We hope that a solid prospect for the future of the workers, of our territory and of the country's steel supply chain can emerge from these days of meetings.”
Fanpage reported that the hot-area plants were placed in preheating overnight between 7 and 8 October, a standstill while the Cassation ruling is awaited. Giacomo Mastro, 42, has spent 24 years at ex Ilva, first as a construction and metalworking employee and now in industrial cleaning. INAIL, the public body that recognizes occupational illness, has acknowledged illnesses in his case, including two non-malignant nodules in his left lung and chronic obstructive bronchopathy (BPCO). He says he is exposed to noise throughout the working day. Mastro told Fanpage.it the following.
“This place gave me a family, but it also made me sick. For my children I dream of a different future.”
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Acciaierie d'Italia will suspend production in the Taranto hot area from 9 October after a Milan court rejected a request to delay the closure order. The company also announced a temporary general stop of the Genoa and Novi Ligure plants by 15 November.
AI text based on reports by AGI, ANSA.it, Rai news and other publishers. Changed .