The Corte di Cassazione rejected the appeal by the management of the steel plant in Taranto, (former ILVA, now Acciaierie d’Italia) and ordered the shut down of its last blast furnace. This is the last blast furnace in Italy, and no other options are seen on the horizon.
Under this ruling, Italy will import all of the 15 million tons of flat steel that the country consumes annually, at a total cost of €11 billion. At its peak,the Taranto plant produced over half of domestic demand. It is calculated that at least 11,000 workers will lose their jobs, directly and indirectly.
