Acciaierie d'Italia, formerly known as Ilva, has received a €320 million bridge loan from the EU, marking a significant step in its strategic development.
The company is focusing on increasing its production capacity by restarting Blast Furnace 1 by the end of October.
This move is part of a broader plan to stabilize production, which currently stands at over 5, 000 tons of pig iron per day.
Preliminary activities for the restart are underway, including a €60-70 million investment to refurbish the furnace's crucible.
This refurbishment requires the furnace to be offline and will occur after the restart of Blast Furnace 2, scheduled for early 2025.
The production target for this year is between 1.9 and 2.2 million tons, with expectations to reach 4.5 to 5 million tons next year.
The company's restart plan is supported by the initial funds received, with 70% of urgent activities already initiated.
In addition to the EU loan, Acciaierie d'Italia has received €300 million from Ilva in extraordinary administration, and further negotiations are ongoing with American banks for an additional €200-250 million, using the company's inventory as collateral.
Labor actions are taking place in Genoa-Cornigliano, with strikes organized by unions due to staffing shortages.
In Taranto, a new extraordinary redundancy fund has been implemented, affecting up to 3, 500 employees.
Meetings between unions and the company are scheduled to discuss workforce flexibility, allowing employees to work six-hour shifts by using leave or redundancy funds to cover the remaining hours.
September is a crucial month for the company, with potential investor interest expected by the 20th and decisions regarding suppliers' predeductible credits.
The decarbonization strategy will be a priority in evaluating investor proposals.
Acciaierie d'Italia has committed to paying 80% of the capital to suppliers who present a pro-soluto factoring agreement by September 16, with the remaining credit subject to waiver.