ArcelorMittal Italia and the Italian government have pushed back the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to Dec 11 as both parties thrash out final terms, according to local media outlets on Nov 30.
ArcelorMittal Italia reportedly filed for an official 10-day extension clarifying that it does not intend to withdraw from the original investment agreement ending Nov 30 – which would have seen the company pay a €500mn penalty as part of an exit clause.
Under the proposed co-investment agreement, the Italian government is expected to manage an initial 50pc its involvement through the Invitalia investment vehicle under the name “AM InvestCO Italy”, which shall increase to 60pc by June 2022.
Reports suggest that Invitalia will inject an initial €400mn by Spring of 2021 followed by a second tranche of €800mn in June 2022, making the Italian taxpayer the majority shareholders of the country’s largest steelmaking facility.
As part of the co-investment plan, the company expects to construct one to two electric arc furnaces, revamp blast furnace #5, and decommission blast furnace #1 and #2, while aiming to raise output from 3.4mn mt to 5.3mn mt in 2021.
ArcelorMittal Italia’s Taranto steelworks has an installed capacity of 11mn mt of crude steel per year and operates four blast furnaces.