The Ilva farce. The ‘truth operation’ needed to bring dignity to the conclusion of a story without making a mockery of it

The countdown to the closure of Ilva has begun: there are 80 days to go. Minister Urso announced this to the Chamber of Deputies, declaring the plan – which began four years ago when he took charge of the dossier and decided to oust ArcelorMittal and place the steelworks under special administration – to be complete. A plan which, from the very outset, had but one aim: the end of the integrated steel cycle in Italy. Yet the minister himself, for four years and right up until last month, continued to proclaim far and wide that, thanks to this government, Ilva was being turned into ‘Europe’s largest green steelworks’. A national strategy, backed by Michele Emiliano and the trade unions, which led Ilva, day after day, to produce less and less, whilst accumulating ever-increasing debts, until it was finally shut down. Even the latest ruling by the Milan Court of Appeal, which orders the closure of the hot section due to the presence of asbestos, is the consequence of the minister’s and his administrators’ misguided decisions.

Acciaierie d’Italia’s plan, prior to being placed under administration, involved shutting down the old blast furnaces and revamping Blast Furnace 5 – the largest in Europe, asbestos-free and equipped with new technologies – which on its own would have guaranteed four million tonnes of integrated steel and the savings needed to support the construction of new electric furnaces. Urso’s administrators, however, decided to scrap that plan in order to peddle the nonsense of an unworkable ‘green’ project. Urso himself pointed out yesterday in the Chamber of Deputies that 22 blast furnaces are still in operation across Europe. Do we really want to believe that only the Italian judiciary is shutting them down? Once the bluff had been exposed, the minister did not even turn up for the meeting he had convened with the trade unions. To local authorities, however, he spoke of 17 new industrial sites to be built on the land vacated by Ilva in Taranto. More nonsense. So much so that even Decaro replied: “I thought you’d summoned me to talk about Ilva, not anything else.” At this point, it would be in the Meloni government’s interest – not least in view of the imminent election campaign – to take credit for Ilva’s closure. For years, politicians of all stripes have been calling for it, and now the ‘patriots’ government’ has succeeded. Instead, the farce continues, serving a single purpose: as long as a company does not shut down, even if it produces nothing but debt, it can guarantee the extraordinary redundancy scheme. It is the only thing on which everyone agrees. None of Ilva’s 10,000 employees will be left without a salary. Nor will the other 10,000 in related industries: some will receive the CIGS, others will take early retirement.

Under-Secretary Mantovano, at last week’s meeting with metalworkers, said that following the ruling, a new tender would be published for the cold-rolling division only. Urso, however, has retracted this suggestion, as more time would be needed and the bridging loan has expired. At most, there will be an update to the old tender, which has been dragging on unresolved for two years. Jindal says it is still interested. However, whilst it was previously ready to sign an agreement already reached to take over the cold-rolling division alone, it now says it wants to take over the whole operation, as it would not be liable for the plants closed down by the courts. The government, not entirely convinced of the Indian investors’ reliability – as demonstrated by yesterday’s comments from some FdI MPs – has instead decided to launch a new tender specifically for the cold-rolling mill, in order to involve Italian industrialists. “This will enable the rescue and relaunch of steel production in Taranto,” said Urso.

So are we supposed to thank the judiciary for finding an Italian buyer? Are the very same Confindustria representatives who, for 60 years, told us that Ilva was strategic for Italy thanks to its blast furnace cycle, only taking an interest now that the hot section has been shut down for good? Beyond the conciliatory statement by Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini, it is by no means certain that the vision of these ‘brave captains’ will materialise. And, above all, it would not save Ilva from bankruptcy after the elections. The minister himself boasted smugly yesterday about the figures for the Italian steel industry, which is growing. Except that what is being produced is not primary steel. Ilva, the only Italian plant to produce it, had reached ten million tonnes in 2012; since ArcelorMittal was forced out, it has not even reached one million. Despite this, the Italian economy, according to Urso, is booming.

Perhaps everything we’ve been told over the years – namely that without Ilva, Italian industry would have collapsed – wasn’t true. The blame for this, however, lies not with Urso, but with all the politicians, trade unions and industrialists. Urso, in spite of them, is the one who shut it down.