Italy’s Supreme Court has ordered the permanent shutdown of Acciaierie d’Italia’s (ADI) hot-end operations. The ruling followed an appeal and was published on October 29.
Earlier in October, the steelmaker temporarily shut down its furnaces while awaiting the court’s decision. The ruling was seen as the last hope for preserving production at the plant in Taranto. The hot-end operations must now cease.
The final ruling followed a lengthy legal battle in which ADI sought to challenge previous orders to close its liquid steelmaking facilities. On September 11, the Milan Court of Appeal upheld the order to shut down the hot-end operations. The court rejected the company’s appeal against an earlier ruling to halt hot-end production in Taranto.
On July 27, the Milan Court of Appeal ordered ADI to cease operations within 90 days, by October 24. Under the ruling, the company was required to remove all asbestos from the plant site and take steps to reduce dust emissions to the prescribed limits. In late February 2026, the Milan court had ordered production at the plant to be suspended over health concerns.
ADI’s steel output was around 1 million tonnes, and its presence on the spot market was limited. However, the shutdown came as the EU significantly restricted imports’ access to its market by introducing new quotas from July 1, 2026. Foreign products also became more expensive due to charges under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). European buyers have increasingly relied on local suppliers, so the loss of ADI’s additional volumes adds to price pressures and raises the risk of shortages.
Italian buyers have already begun purchasing slabs from China, India and Turkey: EU quotas and other trade restrictions do not apply to imports of semi-finished products. Buyers plan to use the capacity of local rolling mills, including ADI’s rolling mills, to produce steel coils and make up for the shortfall in import volumes.
Author: Maria Tanatar
opisnet.com
