The Italian minister for business development, Carlo Calenda, has temporarily suspended all the on-going talks regarding the acquisition of Ilva by the AM Investco consortium. This happens as the local regional authorities in Taranto have lodged an appeal to the court regarding environmental issues.

The minister said that if the appeal is accepted, the mill would have to be idled immediately and it is likely that the offer to acquire the company would be withdrawn. He noted therefore that suspending the talks is the best course of action.

The appeal was lodged by the local government of the Taranto region, against the changes the Italian government made to the environmental plan in order to push forward the acquisition process of the troubled steelmaker. The appeal has also been criticised by the unions as it puts the relaunch of the mill in jeopardy.

As reported by Kallanish, the acquisition process of the company is still under scrutiny by the European Commission regarding possible anti-trust issues arising from the concentration of the Ilva assets into the ArcelorMittal group.