Capacity watch: Taranto’s hot end halts as Europe’s green-steel pipeline splits between go-aheads and delays

What happened

Taranto: a court-ordered stop

The former Ilva works at Taranto, once Europe’s largest steelworks, stopped producing iron this week. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, ADI made the last pig-iron cast from Blast Furnace 2 and put it into pre-heating mode, running at its technical minimum without producing. ADI told the Taranto authorities that all hot-end production was suspended from 9 October, and told the Liguria authorities that Genoa and Novi Ligure would shut temporarily by 15 November. Those plants have no hot rolling of their own and depend on Taranto steel (Il Sole 24 Ore, 10 October). The cause is a Milan court order of 27 July on health grounds. It requires the hot area to stop within 90 days unless asbestos is removed and particulate emissions are brought within limits. A second request to keep the furnaces hot until the Court of Cassation rules was rejected on 5 October. The Cassation hearing is set for 20 October. The government is preparing about €125m of wage support. The deadline for final bids for the assets has moved from 15 October to 8 November, and Federacciai-backed Italian groups, Jindal, CE Industries and Flacks have all expressed interest. The government says funding for a DRI plant remains available.

Investments going ahead

• Košice (Slovakia): Nippon Steel said on 16 September that U.S. Steel Košice will invest about €0.9bn in a 1.6 Mt/y EAF, to run alongside its existing blast furnaces from 2030, and an air separation unit due in 2029. Up to €350m of Modernisation Fund grants are available. The unit became a direct Nippon Steel subsidiary on 1 October and is being renamed Nippon Steel Slovakia.
• Dunkirk (France): in February ArcelorMittal confirmed a €1.3bn, 2 Mt EAF due to start in 2029, using scrap, HBI/DRI and hot metal. Half the cost is supported through France’s energy-efficiency certificate scheme. ArcelorMittal said the EU tariff-rate quota and CBAM reform were preconditions for the investment.
• Duisburg (Germany): thyssenkrupp says the Commission has approved changes to the funding rules for its DRI plant. Under the changes, the plant can initially run without hydrogen, according to Reuters as reported by Reuters. Separately, low Rhine water has suspended thyssenkrupp’s own barge fleet, although the company says customer deliveries continue.

Investments slipping

• Boden (Sweden): Stegra’s 100-day review under its new owners found that completion costs are ‘significantly higher’ than assumed in June, so more capital is needed. The company says its production timeline is unchanged. Håkan Buskhe replaces Henrik Henriksson as CEO from 1 November.
• IJmuiden (Netherlands): Tata Steel Nederland and the Dutch authorities extended their joint letter of intent by five months to 1 March 2027. They cite unresolved issues over slag rules, grid tariffs and the Commission’s revised timetable for phasing out free CO₂ allowances. Tata is also considering closing its coke and gas plants.

Why it matters commercially

• Italian flat-steel supply is falling, but prices have not reacted. Analysislosing Taranto’s hot end, and later Genoa’s and Novi’s finishing lines, removes an Italian source of HRC, coated and tinplate products. Italian HRC prices actually eased this week, which shows how weak demand is. If the Cassation upholds the order, Italian buyers will rely more on other EU mills and on quota-limited imports, and the north–south price gap could flip to a premium in the south.
• Electric arc furnaces change the raw-material mix. Košice and Dunkirk will need more scrap and DRI/HBI from 2029–30. That supports the EU’s push to keep scrap at home and will raise long-term demand for high-grade pellet and DRI-quality ore.
• Low-CO₂ supply will arrive later than many buyers planned. Delays at Stegra and Tata NL mean less low-emission steel in Europe in 2027–29 than buyers expected. For buyers with Scope 3 targets, offtake agreements and premiums for low-CO₂ steel need contingency plans. Importers should also remember that CBAM default values penalise high-emission imports.
• Policy support is now a precondition for investment. Producers are tying investment decisions to the tariff quotas, CBAM and energy contracts. Any weakening of those policies is a risk to future EU capacity.

Who is affected

What to watch next

• 20 October: the Court of Cassation hearing on Taranto. Around 25 October: the end of the 90-day period from 27 July (Loharo calculation).
• 1 November: Håkan Buskhe takes over as Stegra CEO. Watch for details of the capital raise.
• 8 November: deadline for final bids for ADI’s assets. 15 November: Genoa and Novi Ligure shut by this date.
• 1 March 2027: the extended deadline in Tata Steel Nederland’s letter of intent.

Sources

Primary sources

• U. S. Steel Košice decides €0.9 billion investment for sustainable growth and decarbonization — Nippon Steel Corporation, 16 September 2026
• ArcelorMittal confirms the construction of an electric arc furnace in Dunkirk, France — ArcelorMittal Europe, February 2026
• Stegra implements changes following 100-day review under new owners – Håkan Buskhe appointed CEO — Stegra (via Cision), 30 September 2026
• Tata Steel, Dutch government and Province extend JLoI on tailor made agreement for Green Steel-Project — Tata Steel Nederland, September 2026

Supporting sources

• Former Ilva site: temporary shutdown of the hot zone. A 125 million decree on temporary lay-offs is ready — Il Sole 24 Ore, 9 October 2026
• Former Ilva: Adi says plant shutdown is painful but inevitable following the courts' rejection — Il Sole 24 Ore (Radiocor), 10 October 2026
• Ex-ILVA furnaces to shut down Friday — ANSA, 8 October 2026
• Thyssenkrupp in advanced talks to adjust funding for €3 billion green steel plant — Reuters, 13 August 2026
• German water levels remain critical in autumn — EUROMETAL / Kallanish, 9 October 2026

Information as of 11 October 2026. Prices quoted from third-party assessments are attributed to the publisher that reported them; Loharo does not publish its own price assessments. This article is market intelligence, not investment or legal advice.