Steel plant in Sicily stopped due to the high cost of energy

MOSCOW, 8 Sep — PRIME. The Acciaierie di Sicilia steel plant in Catania, Sicily, has stopped production for two weeks due to high energy and raw material prices, newspaper la Repubblica writes.

It is noted that the only such enterprise on the island and one of the largest metallurgical plants in the country is capable of producing about 500 thousand tons of products per year, mainly reinforcement for reinforced concrete structures, with a turnover of 150 million euros.

In the summer, the plant has already stopped production, returning to work for a week, the newspaper notes. The cost of electricity, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, has risen from 80 euros to 550 euros per megawatt hour since the beginning of the year.

Local trade unions have already expressed concern about the fate of the 500 employees of the enterprise. Its owners, say trade union representatives, are forced to face a doubling of costs despite the desire to continue working.

“The authorities of the region and the government in Rome continue to make no effort and remain silent,” the statement said.

As noted by local publication livesicilia.it, the cost of electricity is not the only problem of the Sicilian plant: the volume of production is affected by an even lower supply of scrap metal.