A consortium of four Italian steel companies (Marcegaglia, Sideralba, Eusider and Industrie metalli Cardinale) is planning to acquire part of Acciaierie d’Italia’s assets, according to media reports. Two foreign companies, on the other hand, (Indian Vulcan Green Steel and Azerbaijani Baku Steel) are competing to acquire the entire complex.
Vulcan Green Steel had tried to acquire the company’s assets back in 2017 but was superseded at the time by ArcelorMittal. Meanwhile, Baku Steel is negotiating with the Italian government for the supply of gas to decarbonize the site’s production.
Given the complexity of the negotiations among players, the deadline for the presentation of bids will probably be postponed from November 30, 2024 to January 10, 2025.
The company includes ten assets, for a total amount of circa €1.6 billion, which is the value of the deal. Of these, €1 billion will be used to revamp the equipment and another €680 million will be invested in innovative solutions.
In the meantime, Acciaierie d’Italia (former Ilva) in extraordinary administration is facing a number of internal issues. First, the Italian Ministry of Environment has demanded a reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions from blast furnace No. 4 at the Taranto plant within 30 days. Second, prior to the restarting of BF No. 1 on October 15, BF No.4 was the only operating blast furnace at the plant, with BFs No. 1 and No. 2 having been shut down several months ago. BF No. 2 is going to be active again in February 2025, with overall output due to reach 4.5-5 million mt next year.