The cost of #energy is an issue that can no longer be put off. For the Italian electric steel industry, the stakes are production continuity, employment, and the survival of the national industry. It is unsustainable to ask the sector to lead European #decarbonization while, at the same time, leaving it exposed to prices that undermine its #competitiveness.
As Vice President Barbara Beltrame Giacomello stated: “When it becomes more cost-effective for a steel mill to shut down than to produce, something is wrong with our industrial system. Today, it is the cost of energy—and no longer the company itself—that determines when and how much to produce.
I’ve addressed this in several interviews, tackling one of the main challenges currently facing the steel industry: the cost of energy. It has reached levels that are compromising companies’ competitiveness.
Long-term planning is no longer possible, and this has repercussions for customers, work organization, and the entire production chain.
And we cannot forget the people. Think of the thousands of workers in steel mills and related industries. Our company alone employs about 2,500 people, and we feel a strong responsibility to protect their jobs.
That is why we are calling on the government to take timely and structural action, accompanied by an industrial energy policy that allows companies to resume planning and investing with a medium-term perspective.”