Posted on 15 Jul 2019
ArcelorMittal Italia’s steelmaking operations in Taranto were hit by a series of incidents last week as the company endeavours to re-establish the facility as a major steel production centre once again. A crane accident at the company's concession at the port of Taranto on 11 July led to the company giving notice of force majeure to its customers.
In the letter to customers dated 11 July seen by Kallanish, the steelmaker says that following the accident at the port, the authorities has seized pier No. 4 for investigation. This had meant that the company would be unable to operate in the affected areas and that its "... ability to perform our obligations under our contracts will likely be delayed, hindered or otherwise adversely affected." It was therefore forced to invoke its force majeure clause, the steelmaker says in the letter.
Last week began with a visit by Italian economic development minister Luigi di Maio. He confirmed that ArcelorMittal Italia would not be granted legal immunity from liability for environmental issues that occurred before it took control of the plant (see Kallanish 10 July).
On the same day, a local magistrate ordered ArcelorMittal to begin procedures to temporarily idle blast furnace number 2 of the Taranto plant. The request is linked to the conclusion of an investigation following a fatal accident which occurred in 2015.
On 10 July a small fire broke out in one of the site’s administrative areas although it was quickly extinguished with no injuries or effect on production.
On 11 July there was a more serious incident when a DM5 crane at the ArcelorMittal port concession in Taranto fell into the sea. The crane operator is still missing at the time of writing.
Late on Thursday the company issued a brief statement in which it confirmed that production was to be slowed. It said that, following “… the tragic accident,” it had immediately started a slowdown in production in Taranto with the aim of securing that the plant is in full compliance with environmental regulations.
“It is essential that at this time we all work effectively and collaboratively: we need maximum sharing between the company, the unions and the workers themselves to avoid stopping blast furnace No. 1, which is the only blast furnace still in operation and to guarantee maximum safety conditions within all the systems,” the steelmaker says.
