Italian steelmaker Aferpi will resume operations after 2 years

Italian specialty steel maker Aferpi is set to resume production with its new owner, Indian steel company JSW, at the end of August after two years of downtime.

“This is a historic moment for the company because we can finally face the future. Under the leadership of a serious international company, we are able to produce rolled metal again. We will start with the rail mill, our core business, and then we will restart all other rolling mills with the goal of gradually gaining market share in all sectors from rails to the automotive industry, ”said David Romagnani, union spokesman.

Rail production is expected to resume on 24 August, followed by a new semi-finished product, as 29,400 tonnes are expected to arrive at the port of Piombino on 29 August, the company said in an e-mail.

Other rebar and rod lines are expected to be restarted by mid-October, with semi-finished products also supplied directly to JSW, the company and unions said in a statement.

“At the beginning of next week, about 50 workers will resume work at the plant, clean up the facilities, and then we will restart the reheat oven and the rolling mills,” Romagnani said.

According to JSW's industrial plan, in the second half of this year, Aferpi will produce 57,000 tonnes of bar (total design capacity 600,000 tonnes per year), 50,000 tonnes of rebar (total design capacity 300,000 tonnes per year) and 75,000 tonnes of rails (total design capacity). capacity 350,000 tons per year). By the end of 2020, the company expects to produce 235,000 tonnes of bar, 230,000 tonnes of rebar and 300,000 tonnes of rails per year.

JSW bought Aferpi from Cevital in Algeria in late July after months of speculation. With the acquisition, JSW has finally established itself in the Italian and wider European markets, attempting to acquire Ilva, Italy's largest apartment manufacturer, but losing out to ArcelorMittal.

JSW also plans to install two new electric arc furnaces with a total capacity of 3 million tonnes per year for the production of semi-finished products for lengthy work as well as for the production of apartments, with production scheduled to begin within 18 months. JSW will also consider the possibility of creating a third EA, but this will depend on market needs. Before the EAF is operational, JSW will feed the Aferpi rolling mill with flowers and billets from its mills in India.

JSW will not only support the existing range at Aferpi, but will also produce hot rolled coils for both the Italian and Northern European markets.