1.7 million tonnes of steel seized at Ilva’s Taranto plant in Italy

A total of 1.7 million tonnes of steel products produced at Ilva's Taranto steel plant have been seized by Italian authorities, the company said on Monday December 17.

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“All products processed from July 26, 2012 until December 2 will not be sent to other plants or centres nor delivered to end customers,” the company announced.

“Production of finished and semi-finished products, such as coils, sheets and slabs will be completely stopped at Taranto,” Ilva said.

The company went on to explain that about 1,400 people, mostly from the cold rolling and pipe areas will be without work from now on, without specifying for how long they would remain unemployed.

“Those affected by this seizure are in addition to the 1,200 employees already out of work due to the poor market conditions and the aftermath of the tornado that hit the plant on November 28,” the company added.

On December 11, Italian steel association Assofermet expressed its deep concern for the ongoing crisis surrounding the Ilva-owned Taranto steelworks in Southern Italy.

“The continued blocking of shipments of finished and semi-finished products manufactured at the Taranto plant is severely affecting the Italian supply chain,” it had complained.

Meanwhile, last week, CIS-origin hot rolled coil (HRC) offers for January production rose by $5-20 on tighter supplies after the Italian authorities’ lockdown at the Taranto plant.