Italy’s top court reserves its Taranto ruling as the prosecutor backs lifting the hot-end stop

What happened

On 20 October the Joint Civil Chambers of Italy’s Court of Cassation heard the appeals brought by Ilva and Acciaierie d’Italia, both under state special administration, and by Acciaierie d’Italia Holding against the stop of the hot end at Taranto. According to RAI News and the union daily Conquiste del Lavoro, the judges reserved their decision, which will be notified to the parties later. No date has been given.

The case concerns a decree of the Milan Court of Appeal of 27 July. As Il Sole 24 Ore reports, it ordered the blast furnaces and steel shop to stop within 90 days, a period that ends on 25 October, because of fine-dust emissions (PM2.5 and PM10) and asbestos inside the blast furnaces. ANSA reports the same two grounds. ADI already halted hot-end production on 9 October, as we reported in our October capacity watch.

At the hearing, deputy prosecutor general Luigi Birritteri asked the court to partly uphold the appeals and to remove the stop. According to ANSA and RAI, he argued that the Milan decree lacked a balance between protecting health and keeping industrial production going, and that while the danger of asbestos is not in dispute, the appeal court had inferred the danger rather than established it. The prosecutor’s request is not the decision. RAI notes that the Cassation can confirm the Milan decree, annul it, or annul it and send the case back to the Court of Appeal.

The government has already bought time. Decree-law No. 185 of 16 October 2026, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale, authorises the administrators of Ilva and ADI to keep the smelting plants warm so that they are not damaged beyond repair, until the Cassation’s reasoning is published and in any case no later than 15 December 2026. Air-emission monitoring continues even without production.

The job picture is getting worse. According to Conquiste del Lavoro, ADI’s administrators asked on 14 October to raise the ceiling for extraordinary wage support (cassa integrazione straordinaria) from 4,450 to 8,622 workers, out of a group workforce of 9,626, including 6,964 of 7,875 at Taranto. Il Sole 24 Ore and RAI report that the current, lower ceiling stays in place for now, and that the new request will be discussed only after the government meets the unions at Palazzo Chigi on 27 October.

Why it matters for steel buyers

Il Sole 24 Ore reports that even after a favourable ruling, Taranto’s hot end could not restart immediately: no raw materials remain on site or money to buy them, and ordering, shipping and restarting would take about three months. The outlet adds that a restart is not certain.

In the meantime ADI is keeping its rolling lines partly busy. GMK Center, citing La Stampa, reports tolling agreements to roll about 365,000 tonnes of slab for Italian customers including Marcegaglia and Eusider, with the Taranto hot strip mill running until 14 December, and a plan for Genoa to process 35,000 tonnes of coil a month for third parties until the end of November. SteelOrbis, published by EUROMETAL, reported on 21 October that the Genoa and Novi Ligure plants may continue producing. We could not confirm these arrangements with ADI.

Prices have barely moved so far. SMM assessed Italian domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) at €744 per tonne ex-works on 21 October, up €2, and said supply in Italy remains restricted, with late November and December delivery offers at €750 per tonne delivered. It also reported that imports are held back by EU safeguard quota limits. Our October HRC price analysis and our guide to the EU tariff quotas explain how the quotas limit cheap import options.

Analysis For Italian buyers of HRC, coated coil and tinplate, the practical point is that Taranto will not add new supply this year, and probably not before early 2027 even if the court lifts the stop soon. That leaves buyers relying on other EU mills and on imports that must fit within the quota, at a time when mills are negotiating first-half 2027 contracts. Buyers who still count on Taranto in their 2027 plans should line up alternative tonnage now rather than wait for the ruling.

Analysis A ruling that confirms the Milan decree would make the loss of Italy’s only integrated steelworks more likely to be permanent. A ruling that annuls it would mainly keep the option of a restart open; on its own it would not change supply in the coming months.

Who is affected

• Italian buyers of flat steel (HRC, coated coil and tinplate), service centres and re-rollers that used to buy from ADI.
• Other EU flat-steel mills, which may find more demand from Italian customers for 2027 contracts.
• Importers into Italy, since replacement tonnage from outside the EU must fit within the safeguard quotas.

What to watch next

• The Cassation ruling: whether it confirms, annuls or sends back the Milan decree, and when the reasoning is published (the furnaces can stay warm until 15 December at the latest).
• 25 October: the end of the 90-day period set by the Milan Court of Appeal.
• 27 October: the government and union meeting at Palazzo Chigi, which also decides when the larger furlough request is discussed.
• Italian HRC offers for early 2027 and how much of Italy’s demand moves to other EU mills and to quota imports.

Sources

Primary sources

• Decreto-legge 16 ottobre 2026, n. 185: Misure urgenti a sostegno dei lavoratori dell’ex ILVA e dell’indotto e per il rilancio industriale del territorio — Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 241, 16 October 2026 (Italian)
• European HRC: tight supply supports marginal price gains, quota and clearance risks block imports — SMM, 21 October 2026 (own price assessment)

Supporting sources

• La Cassazione si riserva la decisione sullo stop all’area a caldo — RAI News (TGR Puglia), 20 October 2026 (Italian)
• Il pg di Cassazione: ‘No allo stop dell’ex Ilva, bilanciare salute e produzione’ — ANSA, 20 October 2026 (Italian)
• Ex Ilva: la Cassazione si riserva la decisione — Conquiste del Lavoro, October 2026 (Italian)
• Former Ilva: final hearing today at the Court of Cassation, with a decision to be made on the hot area — Il Sole 24 Ore, 20 October 2026
• Acciaierie d’Italia has agreed a plan for the supply of raw materials to its plants in Genoa and Taranto — GMK Center, citing La Stampa, October 2026
• Strikes and protests in southern Italy put logistics at risk, uncertainty persists over former Ilva — SteelOrbis via EUROMETAL, 21 October 2026

Related on Loharo

• Capacity watch: Taranto’s hot end halts as Europe’s green-steel pipeline splits between go-aheads and delays
• European HRC holds at €740–760/t as quota exhaustion shuts the cheap import window
• EU steel tariff quotas three months in: 50% duty, melt-and-pour proof and a looming Q1 2027 crunch

Last fact-check: 21 October 2026 (Europe/Amsterdam).