After reaching a sale and purchase agreement on May 17 this year, Algerian group Cevital and Indian steel group JSW Steel have signed the transfer of the property and 100 percent of shares of Italian steelmaker Aferpi (formerly Lucchini) based in Piombino, Tuscany, from Cevital to JSW Steel, on July 24.
As reported previously, JSW Steel has acquired the Italian asset for a cash consideration of €55 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis subject to closing adjustments including for working capital.
Aferpi produces and distributes special long steel products such as rails, wire rods and bars. It has a plant at Piombino in Italy, comprising a rail mill, bar mill, wire rod mill and a captive industrial port concession.
As stated by JSW Steel, "The transaction provides a unique opportunity for JSW Steel to establish its presence in Italy with access to the European specialty steel long products market. The transaction will also provide JSW a foothold for future opportunities in the European markets. The port-based rolling mills at Piombino allow for easy logistics integration with JSW's upstream facilities located in India, for supply of sustainable, dedicated, cost-competitive billets and blooms, helping Aferpi regain viability in production and supply of its rolled long steel products. JSW Steel has long-term plans to work on backward integration by setting up an environment-friendly and cost-competitive scrap/DRI-based electric arc furnace (EAF) to make the unit fully integrated, subject to financial viability and feasibility studies".
JSW Steel plans to invest about €1 billion in total. The final aim is to produce 3 million mt of steel annually by 2024-25, including 2.4 million mt of coils.