Taranto-based Italian steel producer Ilva is progressively restarting its finished steel production operations following recent favorable court decisions, having almost completely shut down its finished steel operations in late 2012. According to the Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, in rapid succession Ilva has lately restarted operations at the pipe works Nos. 1 and 2 at the Taranto steel complex, following already functioning facilities such the HRC line No. 2 and the ERW pipe works, which has been restarted at the beginning of February, and part of the cold rolling shop.
According to the newspaper, as soon as seized steel stocks are released by court decision, it is more than likely that Ilva will also restart its HRC line No. 1. In fact, of the 1.7 million mt of seized steel products, steel slab accounts for about 600,000-700,000 mt, which would be used as feedstock for both HRC lines at Taranto's steel complex.