JSW Steel to invest ₹1,282 cr to relaunch its Italian steel mills

The company further added that the investment will be made to modernize the rail mill at Piombino, doubling the current rail-making capacity to 600,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes per annum, helping provide Europe with the most modern, technologically advanced and best-in-class rail mill.

“The investment of €143 million will modernize the rail mill at Piombino,” said Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Group. This project will safeguard the aspiration for development of Piombino as a steel hub and will step up domestic production which will result in the reduction of imports of steel products in Italy, he said.

JSW Steel, in 2018, announced the acquisition of steel facilities at Piombino—Aferpi S.p.A Piombino Logistics S.p.A and GSI Lucchini S.p.A—for €55 million cash. The company had then said that through this transaction it would be able to establish its presence in Italy with access to the European speciality steel long products market.

The project will focus on setting up of the more efficient tandem mill, head hardening facility (used in high speed rails) and increasing the length of rails to 120 meters from 108 meters.

The MoU which will ensure the relaunch of the Piombino steel hub will facilitate the conditions for efficient and sustainable state support for rail production. The company further added that this will be part of the broader project to kickstart economic development of the region which will also include the restarting of the production of steel products to safeguard employment and reduce the import of steel products into Italy.

“The MOU provides for four months of collaboration for execution of a Program Agreement i.e. Accordo di Programma (ADP) under Art. 252-BIS of the Consolidated Environmental Law,” the company added.

The announcement comes at a time when the $23-billion JSW Group has already announced multiple projects to expand its foothold in the steel manufacturing and EV industry, including an investment of ₹65,000 crore to set up one of its biggest manufacturing plants in Odisha, ₹40,000 crore for an electric vehicle and a battery manufacturing unit in Cuttack and Paradip, and ₹5,500 in grain-oriented electrical steel manufacturing facility in Karnataka.

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Published: 01 Mar 2024, 09:53 PM IST