The mining and metals group Metinvest is considering various options regarding the future of a major project to build a new steel plant in Piombino, Italy. Potential scenarios include reducing the company’s stake or even completely withdrawing from the project, which is valued at approximately €3 billion. Bloomberg reported this, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. The review of plans is attributed to the increased financial strain on Metinvest following a series of Russian strikes on the group’s Ukrainian facilities. The initiative in question is the Metinvest Adria project in Piombino, Tuscany, which Metinvest is developing jointly with the Italian engineering group Danieli. The new plant is expected to produce around 2.7 million tonnes of low-carbon steel annually and become one of Italy’s largest new steelmaking projects.
Initially, Metinvest planned to provide the majority of the project’s equity. According to Bloomberg, the company was set to contribute over €500 million—representing about 75% of the equity financing—with Danieli covering the remainder. A significant portion of the plant’s total cost was intended to be covered by bank loans and Italian state support. However, Metinvest had already begun seeking a third investor to reduce its own financial commitment to less than €300 million. Italian sources reported that the company aimed to cut its stake in the project from approximately 75% to 49%. Now, according to Bloomberg, the options under consideration include selling Metinvest’s entire stake in the joint venture. At the same time, no final decision has been reached. A Metinvest representative confirmed that the company is negotiating with potential investors and considering several options for the future ownership structure of Metinvest Adria. The company emphasizes that no decision has yet been made regarding the size of the stake that might be sold to a new partner.
Metinvest Adria’s management publicly denies that the project has been halted. CEO Luca Villa told Italian media that the Piombino project is proceeding according to plan. However, construction timelines have already been postponed, and the search for an additional investor is ongoing. Financial pressure on the Ukrainian group intensified sharply in 2026. In the first half of the year, Metinvest posted a net loss of $202 million, compared to a $58 million loss the previous year. These results did not yet fully reflect the impact of subsequent attacks on key Ukrainian steelmaking assets. In August and September, Russian strikes effectively halted the operations of the group’s main steelmaking facilities.
Zaporizhstal was subjected to several missile attacks and was unable to resume production for an extended period. In September, a ballistic missile struck Kametstal in Kamianske, damaging key production facilities; the plant was also forced to halt production. In late September, Oleksandr Vodoviz, head of the Metinvest CEO’s office, stated that the situation in the Ukrainian steel industry had become “catastrophic.” According to him, virtually all major metallurgical enterprises have sustained damage, and restoring just one blast furnace at Zaporizhstal could cost at least $50 million. Compounding the physical destruction are higher logistics costs, port operational restrictions, and new trade barriers in the EU market. Metinvest estimates that the group’s production costs have risen by approximately 30% over the past year. This is why the situation regarding Piombino is significant—it is not merely the story of a single overseas plant.
The project was intended to be strategic for Metinvest’s entire business model: the new Italian facility was slated to be supplied, in part, with raw materials from the company’s Ukrainian mining and processing plants. Furthermore, the plant’s technologies were to serve as a prototype for the future modernization of the Ukrainian facilities Zaporizhstal and Kametstal. Consequently, Russian attacks on assets in Ukraine may now be affecting not only the group’s current production but also its multi-billion-dollar international investment plans. Should Metinvest significantly scale back its involvement in or withdraw entirely from the Piombino project, it would stand as a prime example of how wartime losses suffered by major Ukrainian businesses are forcing companies to reconsider strategic investments abroad.
