The possible halt in production at Ilva's integrated site located in Taranto, Italy, in early January has been averted. Local authorities have agreed to begin procedures to withdraw an existing appeal to the country's high court, Kallanish learns from local sources.

Carlo Calenda, the Italian minister for economic developmet, confirmed with a tweet on 29 December that the appeal is being withdrawn. The risk of the plant's closure as from 9 January has therefore been averted for the moment.

Meanwhile, some steps forward have been made in relation to the existing issues that have arisen during the approval procedure for the acquisition of Ilva by AM Investco. ArcelorMittal has signed a provisional agreement to sell its existing HDG rolling plant in Italy to Arvedi (see Kallanish 28 December 2017). This move should help ease some of the concerns raised by the European Commission regarding the future market share of ArcelorMittal following the proposed Ilva acquisition.