Steel giant ArcelorMittal pulled out of an agreement to buy struggling Italian firm Ilva because of production concerns, Italy's prime minister has said, warning the company wants to cut 5,000 jobs at one of its plants.

The world's biggest steelmaker on Monday retreated from its plan to buy the steel producer, blaming a decision by Rome to not grant it immunity from prosecution over the heavily polluting Taranto plant.

The announcement caused shockwaves in Italy where the deal was expcted to safeguard thousands of jobs.

But the country's prime minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday said the decision was instead over production targets.

"The real reason for their withdrawal is that their investments are not profitable and they are demanding now that 5,000 jobs are cut. It's unacceptable," he said, after meeting with ArcelorMittal's management.

If the steel giant goes ahead with its plan to pull out of the plant, the government "will not stay inert", he added.

The prime minister hopes that following the discussion, ArcelorMittal will return to the negotiating table "with acceptable and tenable proposals".

ArcelorMittal began leasing the plant -- with an obligation to buy it -- last November, and had plans to invest 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) to revive it, including 1.2 billion euros to curb pollution by 2024.

The steel giant was given a period of legal immunity to bring the site up to environmental standards.

But after much prevarication, the Italian parliament revoked that decision and the company lost its immunity on November 3.

The Taranto plant in the south of Italy is mired in controversy because experts believe that some 7,500 people have died in the surrounding area as a result of diseases linked to toxic emissions.

The plant -- Europe's largest integrated steelmaking site -- has a workforce of more than 8,000 in the poverty-hit southern Italian city, where unemployment is high.

Conte said he would meet with unions on Thursday and asked the whole country to form a "common front" to support the site.

fka/plh/ecl/aph

ARCELORMITTAL

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Japan retailers to charge for plastic bags from 2020
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 1, 2019
Japanese retailers including supermarkets and convenience stores will be required to charge for plastic bags from next summer ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, a government panel agreed Friday. The move brings Japan in line with many other countries that have already adopted the environmentally friendly measure, but it will only come into effect in July 2020. There will be no set price for a bag, with each retailer able to decide how much to charge. The government will try to "ingrain the habit a ... read more