ArcelorMittal Italia blast furnaces are set to return to previous production levels with workers resuming work at its Taranto works mill following a crane accident last week that triggered a strike, a company spokesman told S&P Global Platts on Wednesday.
Workers have decided to return to work at the blast furnaces following talks with the management, the spokesman said.
The company declared force majeure on Friday after the authorities seized the pier No. 4 at the Taranto works to investigate the accident, in which a crane being operated by a worker at the works' raw materials pier fell into the sea.
Following the accident, which resulted in one fatality, the unions said they would declare an indefinite strike and were taking action to bank the Taranto works' blast furnaces Nos. 2 and 4, Platts previously reported.
ArcelorMittal Italia on Monday agreed to discuss extra investments for maintenance works as well as to organize weekly meetings for all the company's units to check that everything is in order, according to a union document seen by Platts.
After the Monday meeting, ArcelorMittal released a statement expressing the need for a commitment from all stakeholders to keep the plant operational.
Unions and mill representatives will meet again later on Wednesday to finalize the situation with workers seeking to ensure that safety will be the company's top priority, unions sources told Platts.
"The dialog is still very much open. Everyone wants to work for the future of the company, but the situation is still very much fluid," a union source said.
Both blast furnace No. 2 and No. 4 had been running with a crude steel production target of 1.5 million mt/year.
BF No. 1, which was operating without any problems, was temporarily banked during the weekend, union sources added. BF No. 1 has been working with a crude steel production target of 1.2 million mt/year.
After the authorities seized pier 4, the company has been looking for alternative solutions to dock large raw materials ships.
The latest accident occurred on the heels of an Italian public prosecutor ordering a production halt of blast furnace No. 2.
The order came following allegations that improvements promised for the works after an accident there in 2015 -- when the mill was under previous management -- had not been fully undertaken.
Unions sources said that the production of blast furnace No. 2 is very much under threat due to this issue, but the company is working to keep it operational.
The company has also been engaging with the Italian government on the so-called Crescita law decree, under which the government wishes to cancel the steelmaker's criminal immunity regarding pollution remedies adopted at the site, Platts reported earlier.
ArcelorMittal has already said that this new decree "will make it impossible for the company to continue to operate," with some company representatives hinting that the company could now pull out of new investments if tensions continue with the government.
