Invitalia, Italy’s state investment agency, sent a letter proposing the move on Wednesday to the operator of the plant in Taranto, Acciaierie d’Italia, which is majority-owned by ArcelorMittal, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said.
Acciaierie d’Italia’s chief executive officer Lucia Morselli has 15 days to respond, a government source told AFP.
The government adopted a decree on Tuesday paving the way for the steelworks, one of Europe’s largest, to be placed under special administration.
It would involve appointing commissioners to manage the company and draw up a rescue plan, pending the arrival of a new investor.
State supervision would continue while Rome sought out “the best private partners with the aim of safeguarding production continuity, protecting employment and guaranteeing worker safety”, Meloni’s office said in a note.
In the meantime, the government stands ready to guarantee “current liquidity” at the former Ilva plant in the southern city with a bridge loan of €320 million, it said.
Acciaierie d’Italia is heavily in debt and no longer able to pay many of its suppliers or utility bills, and is at risk of having its gas shut off at the Taranto plant.
The site is run as a joint venture between ArcelorMittal, the world’s second-largest steelmaker, which holds 62%, and the Italian state, which has held 38% since 2021.
Rome considers the site a strategic asset, but it has long been troubled, dogged by a lack of cash and environmental scandals.
ArcelorMittal committed when it took over in 2018 to invest in “low carbon” steel and to increase production to eight million tonnes in 2025.
The site only produced 3.4 million tonnes of steel in 2022 and in 2023 production fell below three million tonnes.
ArcelorMittal had responded to a call for tenders after the site was last put into extraordinary administration in 2015, taking over the Ilva group and its 10,700 employees – including 8,200 in Taranto – at the end of 2018.
In crisis talks with the right-wing government last week, the company refused to invest any more money, according to Italian officials.
The Italian state had offered to finance a capital increase of €320 million, which would raise its stake from 38% to a controlling 66%, but this was rebuffed.