ArcelorMittal confirms Italian arm raises concern with govt for legal safeguard

Global steel giant ArcelorMittal confirmed Wednesday that its Italian arm AMI has raised concerns with the government about the Crescita law decree which removes the existing legal safeguards to operate the facility.

The law decree is expected to be ratified into law by June 29.

"ArcelorMittal Italia (AMI) has highlighted to the Italian government its concerns about the current text of the Crescita law decree. If ratified as currently drafted, the provision concerning the Taranto plant would impair any operator's ability to operate the plant while implementing the environmental plan approved by the Italian Government in September 2017, including for ArcelorMittal," the company said in a statement.

The Taranto plant has been under seizure since 2012 and cannot be operated without legal protection until the environmental plan is implemented, the world's largest steelmaker said.

The company said the 2017 environmental plan is designed to address the Taranto plant's long-standing issues and transform it into a state-of-the-art European steel facility by applying best available techniques, with an overall environmental investment by AMI of over Euros 1.15 billion.

It also said the implementation of the agreed plan is proceeding according to schedule.

"However, the Crescita law decree removes the legal safeguards existing when ArcelorMittal agreed to invest in the Taranto plant. These safeguards are necessary until the company has completed the environmental plan to avoid incurring liability for issues that it did not create," the company expressed concern.

It said that AMI remains hopeful that, as part of the amendment process, legal certainty will be restored in the interest of the Italian economy and of the stakeholders of ArcelorMittal Italia, enabling AMI to operate the plant while completing the environmental re-qualification plan.

ArcelorMittal is the world's leading steel and mining company with a presence in 60 countries and an industrial footprint in 19 countries.

In 2018, ArcelorMittal had revenues of USD 76 billion and crude steel production of 92.5 million tonnes, while own iron ore production reached 58.5 million tonnes.