Open / Close Advertisement

ILVA Steel Plant to be Opened for Upgrades

08/08/2012 - An Italian court ruled on 7 August that Europe's largest steel plant, ILVA, could upgrade its production line to meet regulatory standards, and the chairman of the plant said it could keep running while the improvements are made.

An Italian court ruled on 7 August that Europe's largest steel plant, ILVA, could upgrade its production line to meet regulatory standards, and the chairman of the plant said it could keep running while the improvements are made.
Prosecutors on 26 July had said the plant in Taranto, Italy would have to shut down some of its units, including the blast furnace where crude steel is produced, because of concerns that pollution was harming people's health.
Bruno Ferrante, chairman of ILVA, said after reviewing the court verdict that the plant had to be kept running for the upgrades to be carried out safely. He said he was sure production would continue.
"We should no longer use the word 'closure' to say that a factory is improving its safety conditions and is reducing its environmental impact," Ferrante said during a news conference.
Tuesday's court decision partially reversed an order by prosecutors last month to put the plant under court management and close parts of it, which sparked protests among its 12,000 workers and riled the country's biggest labor unions.
The court upheld that the plant remained under its oversight and named Ferrante as the state administrator.
The shutdown of the ILVA factory would have been a severe blow to Taranto, a poor southern city which, like the rest of Italy, is mired in recession and faces double-digit unemployment.
Prosecutors had sought to close the steel mill after a long inquiry into whether dioxin and other chemicals pumped from the plant caused abnormal rates of cancer and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the southern Taranto area.
Magistrates ruled that the factory's fumes and dust particles endangered the health of thousands of workers and nearby residents.
ILVA produced 8.5 million tonnes in 2011, nearly 30% of total Italian steel output. Were the plant to be closed for some time, it would knock about 5% off Europe's output.
Also as part of Tuesday's ruling, the court confirmed the house arrest of three plant executives but said another five had been released.