Is politics ignoring Acciaierie d’Italia?
How and why Federmanager's managers from Taranto are pressing politics on Acciaierie d'Italia (ex Ilva).
Managers and executives in turmoil over the former Ilva.
“We need to get out of the quagmire”. This is what the Taranto executives adhering to Federmanager , the federation of company executives, hope with regard to the situation of the former Ilva of Taranto, now Acciaierie d'Italia.
For the Taranto delegation of Federmanager Puglia, the question of the steel mill, now also owned by the State with Invitalia shareholder of AdI at 38 percent (the remaining 62 is in the hands of the private ArcelorMittal Italia), "seems like the classic hot potato that is dodged by political forces. And we are talking about the most important factory in the country, indispensable for the mechanical sector and for the development of which a lot of public resources have been spent in past years".
THE EX ILVA TRANSITION TO GREEN STEEL
“Regarding more complex projects such as decarbonisation with the production of Dri and the use of electric smelting furnaces, these – says Federmanager – represent a future, a change and a transition towards "green" steel that has nothing to do with a production recovery that we believe should be immediate”.
For Federmanager, “it is truly a pity that the factory has not yet managed to take off in terms of steel production and economic results to finally start that conversion which in many countries is concretely starting up. We are therefore faced with an industrial contradiction to a real paradox".
THE CRITICISM OF INVITALIA AND ARCELORMITTAL
”The companies Invitalia and ArcelorMittal, while acknowledging the difficult situation of the factory (still under seizure today), do not seem to meet the real needs of this industrial complex, showing signs of mutual distrust due to, perhaps, conflicting interests (the giant ArcelorMittal is a competitor company) and, an extremely serious fact, actions that are not consistent with the normal functionality and management of the plants have been going on for over two years in terms of poor maintenance, management of stocks and spare parts” says Federmanager. For which “continuing in this way, the result will only be that of a loss of the industrial heritage which is gradually degrading with the risk of accidents, plant shutdowns and environmental disservices. It is certainly not the fault of the operational managers of the various production areas, reduced to executors of directives imposed by top management and dispossessed of their role and who in this situation must be protected to recover their role".
EMISSIONS "WITHIN THE LIMITS PROVIDED BY THE LAW"
For Federmanager, “today, polluting emissions, due to the interventions envisaged and carried out for the AIA prescriptions (Integral Environmental Authorization), are all within the limits established by law as per precise Arpa surveys. And it is really hard to understand – the company managers point out – how in a plant structure like the one in Taranto, which has three blast furnaces available, only two are used today, despite having a third blast furnace stopped and ready to go and which has planned production for the current year of only 4 million tons of steel and for the year 2024 productions of 5 million tons of steel”. “The march with the three blast furnaces, with a well-functioning factory, allows productions of around 6 million tons” concludes Federmanager.
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THE FULL COMMUNICATE OF FEDERMANAGER PUGLIA, DELEGATION OF TARANTO
On the former ILVA affair, which since December 2020 has been the new state-owned company renamed Acciaieria d'Italia, some situations need to be clarified. The news of these days are reporting confused statements that cannot fail to alarm those who work in the factory.
We are in a situation of great crisis and there seems to be a will not to understand each other and not to establish a proactive dialogue, so that the necessary actions can be started in a transparent way. Bad politics cannot prevail over territorial and national interests and over the lives of workers.
News is reported on the possibility of halting production in the hot area in view of decarbonisation and all of this appears to lack any logic in sound industrial management: in fact, it is already well known that the factory without a hot area cannot function and runs the risk of wiping out an industrial heritage of enormous value.
Today, the polluting emissions, due to the interventions planned and carried out for the AIA prescription (Integral Environmental Authorization), are all within the limits established by law as per precise ARPA surveys.
Moreover, it is difficult to understand how in a plant structure such as that of Taranto, which has three blast furnaces available, today only two are used – despite the fact that there is a third blast furnace stopped and ready to go – and that production has been planned for the current year of only 4 million tons of steel and by 2024 only 5 million tons. The march with the three blast furnaces, with a well-functioning factory, would allow productions of about 6 million tons and this would be possible immediately since the Hague authorizes this production.
Corporate responsibilities can be glimpsed in this operational deficiency.
On the other hand, great recourse is made to layoffs and a "non-producing" planning is organized, not for market crises but for reasons relating primarily to the liquidity crisis which prevents the company from producing, as it is unable to acquire the necessary materials and support activities for plant operation. And this is the real problem to be solved.
In the meantime, however, there are imminent 'green' conversions of the factory (which, if they continue like this, would have no future) and future options and visions are put in place for the reduction of "greenhouse gases" in steel production. With regard to more complex projects such as decarbonisation with the production of DRI and the use of electric furnaces, these represent a future, a change and a transition towards "green" steel which, however, cannot be used in any way as a pretext for the limited production of the present and which, in reality, has nothing to do with a production recovery that we believe should be immediate.
It is therefore sad to note – on the part of those who worked with passion and professionalism in that factory – how it has not yet managed to take off in terms of production and economic results to finally start that conversion which in many countries is concretely starting By motorbike. We are faced with an industrial contradiction to a real paradox.
The Invitalia and Arcelor Mittal companies, while acknowledging the difficult situation of the factory (still under seizure today with the right to use the hot area), do not yet seem to fully grasp the real needs of this industrial complex; show signs of mutual distrust due to, perhaps, conflicting interests (the colossus Arcelor Mittal is in fact a competitor) and, an extremely serious fact, actions that are not consistent with the normal functionality and management of the plants have persisted for over two years in terms of maintenance, inventory and spare parts management.
Continuing in this way, the result will only be that of a growing deterioration of the industrial heritage which is gradually degrading with the risk of accidents, plant shutdowns and environmental disservices.
This situation is not attributable to the operational managers of the various production areas, reduced to executors of top management directives and de facto dispossessed of their role, who in this situation must be protected in order to fully recover professional functions and dignity.
We need to get out of the "quagmire". It looks like the classic "hot potato" that is shunned by political forces. And we are talking about the most important factory in the country in terms of number of direct employees, indispensable for the mechanical sector and for whose development enormous public resources have been spent in past years.
As a FEDERATION OF MANAGERS, we therefore ask the company and the competent authorities for an urgent response to find out how the problem of reduced production in the Taranto factory will be addressed and resolved.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/ex-ilva-federmanager/ on Mon, 08 May 2023 06:27:27 +0000.