Overview

• Minister Adolfo Urso convened nonstop talks and issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Puglia’s city, provincial and regional authorities over hosting the regasification ship or facing economic and employment fallout
• The vessel is pivotal for powering a direct reduced iron plant to feed three electric arc furnaces under an €8–9 billion Taranto-centric decarbonization plan, with a fallback multi-site triangle option in Puglia, Genova and Gioia Tauro
• The technical Conference of Services for the integrated environmental authorization has been postponed to July 17, and a final inter-institutional programme agreement is set for July 15 to avert a tribunal-mandated shutdown of hot-side operations
• Trade unions Fim, Fiom and Uilm demand uninterrupted production and additional state funding beyond the €200 million already allocated to safeguard jobs and support the green steel transition
• Acciaierie d’Italia’s sale negotiations with Baku Steel, Jindal Steel and Bedrock Industries remain on hold pending a signed programme agreement and clarity on decarbonization infrastructure decisions