Flacks Group has renewed its bid for the future of Acciaierie d'Italia, presenting an updated plan based on the creation of Flacksider, a new company in which the American investment group seeks to involve the Italian state and two industrial partners. ,
,According to local sources, this proposal is aimed at maintaining production capacity at the Taranto plant during the transition period, while gradually replacing the existing production process with equipment based on direct cast iron recovery technology and electric arc furnaces. The project also includes the restoration of the environment in the industrial area and the continuation of processing activities using semi-finished products from external sources. After the new configuration is put into operation, the low-emission steel production capacity is expected to be about 4 million metric tons per year. The transition will be carried out gradually, with the gradual decommissioning of blast furnaces that are currently in operation.
Key details have yet to be clarified.
Earlier, Flacks named the Italian equipment manufacturer Danieli and the Ukrainian steel manufacturer Metinvest among the potential industrial partners involved in the project. According to available information, Danieli has confirmed its participation, while Metinvest has not released any official statement.
Some elements of the proposal have yet to be clarified, including the final ownership structure, the degree of government involvement, the required financing, and the investment schedule.
The American group claims that this plan will limit the impact of the transition period on employment by gradually returning direct workers to production and supporting the restoration of contractors and other companies in the local supply chain. According to Flacks, any reduction in the workforce will be limited to the initial transition period and will be lifted as soon as the new businesses become operational.
FLAXX positions its plan as opposed to Jindal's proposal
This proposal is presented as an alternative to the project attributed to Jindal Steel International. Flacks argues that a competing option would reduce primary steel production in Taranto and turn the plant primarily into a re-rolling center supplied with semi-finished products from abroad.
According to local sources, the Italian government and emergency commissioners are continuing negotiations with Jindal on the possible asset management of Acciaierie d'Italia. It is assumed that the Indian group's plan involves a wider use of imported slabs, which in the future