Non price-sensitive communications

Trieste, April 13, 2021 – Fincantieri, ArcelorMittal Italia (AMI) and Paul Wurth Italia (PWIT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to consider drawing up a reconversion plan for the existing integrated cycle of the AMI steel-making plant in Taranto, using eco-friendly technologies.

Responsibilities to develop the plan will be shared as follows:

• PWIT, technological leader with a strong plant builder culture, inherited from a historical company as Italimpianti, will take care to verify the technical feasibility of implementing new technologies in the existing plant to improve the environmental impact and define the inputs necessary for the economic feasibility analysis;
• AMI, as the company managing the industrial facility, will be in charge of verifying the production feasibility of the new technologies and their economic, regulatory and legal impact;
• FINCANTIERI, based on its capability to function as general contractor in the civil engineering, structural, environmental, plant-engineering, electronic and maintenance sectors, will be in charge of verifying the feasibility of the projects, especially in terms of investments, schedule and management costs, with a view to integrating the different project management activities.

The agreement also aims at identifying innovative projects for reducing emissions, as well as activities for the study and development of new joint business models, such as the production of high-resistance steel for the construction of ships and core infrastructures, in addition to supplying steel.

Thomas Hansmann, CEO of Paul Wurth Italia says: “The “green” conversion of Taranto site is of such strategic importance to require the collaboration of the best resources of the country; the success of an operation of this importance is necessarily determined by the joint efforts of companies that, in their field of work, represent the excellence. We are playing a fundamental game to enable Italy keeping its pivotal role in the production of high-quality steel in Europe. As Paul Wurth Italia, worthy heir of Italimpianti  that has so much contributed to the economic development of the country in the past years, we are proud to continue that tradition of customer support that historically distinguishes us”.

Lucia Morselli, CEO of Arcelor Mittal Italia, comments: “We need to be able to improve our companies, make sure they become champion of sustainability, capitalize on those new processes and technologies that represents a driver of growth for the Country with a huge export potential, fueled by the increasing European and Global demand for those competencies”.

Fincantieri CEO, Giuseppe Bono, commented: “Partnerships between leading national players go well beyond the growth of the single companies concerned, as they bring benefits to the Nation’s entire economic structure.  This concurrence with ArcelorMittal and a company with such a long-established tradition as Paul Wurth, can add tremendous value to the steel-making chain. It is a vital  asset for the Italian manufacturing industry, which strives to maintaining second position in Europe, and our undertaking aims at increasing the competitiveness of steel products, especially in terms of environmental sustainability, an aspect that is becoming increasingly important to all stakeholders involved in industrial processes.” Bono concluded: “We are also pleased that for the first time, apart from AMI, other major national industrial companies are being involved in the steel-making plant in Taranto, and can now help find a solution to the age-old problems jeopardizing the maintenance and growth of this plant which, let us not forget, is the main one in Europe”.