ArcelorMittal has announced that AM InvestCo, its Italian subsidiary, has signed a non-binding agreement with the Italian government-appointed Ilva commissioners that forms a basis to continue negotiations on a new industrial plan for Ilva. This includes discussions on a substantial equity investment by a government-controlled entity, Kallanish learns from ArcelorMittal.

The new industrial plan would contemplate investments in green technology, including through a new company funded by public and private investors. Negotiations will continue into January. In the meantime, at the hearing today (20 December) the Ilva commissioners and AM InvestCo have requested a further postponement of the Ilva commissioners’ application for interim measures until the end of January.

The Italian government had previously rejected the industrial plan submitted by ArcelorMittal Italia. The steelmaker said in the plan that it would cut almost 4,700 jobs during the next three years. The first cuts would have been in 2020 while the remainder would have occurred in 2023 when the company proposed to idle blast furnace No. 2 and launch an EAF at the Taranto site.