Italian AST to increase crude stainless steel production to 1 million tonnes

Italian flat stainless steel producer Acciai Speciali Terni (AST) recently agreed at a meeting of Italian trade unions to launch a two-year production plan to increase crude stainless steel production from the current 940,000 tonnes to 1 million tonnes per year within 13 months.

AST is preparing to invest €60 million to realise the production plan. In addition, the company planned to increase its annual production of cold rolled products by 6% per annum within 2 years.

However, the increase in production did not mean an increase in the number of workers. The Italian trade union said that the number of workers is expected to remain unchanged.