Issad Rebrab’s woes in Italy, according to Il Sole 24 Ore daily

The Bank of Algeria has given the green light to the Algerian captain of industries issad Rebrab, for the transfer to Italy of 90 million Euros out of 500 million Euros planned for the acquisition of “Lucchini Piombino” steelworks in the Tuscany region of Italy, 250 km northwest of the capital Rome.

Indeed, the Algerian business leader, owner of Cevital, bought “Lucchini Piombino”, the second steel pole of Italy as the latter had been in financial turmoil since 2013. 

And thus, Issad Rebrab after having acquired Oxxo, a French company specialized in joinery, the Spanish company Alas Aluminium, specializing in aluminum processing and French household appliances Fagor Brandt, added this Italian acquisition in his roster.

Cevital counted through the recovery of this company to “restart the steel industry in Piombino to reach a production of two million tons of special steel and replace furnaces with electric furnaces” Mr Rebrab he said in a statement echoed by several Italian media.

 In addition to the traditional markets of Lucchini, Cevital envisaged to “market the surplus of steel production in the markets of the Maghreb and Africa,” it said in a press release.

This figure of 90 million Euros was revealed to the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore by the Executive Director of the former steel complex “Lucchini” later renamed “Aferpi”. 

According to the Italian media, the steel mill Rebrab acquired there nearly a year ago is struggling to enter production. The reasons are related, according to this newspaper to funding problems.

The newspaper, which refers to inquiries carried out by its investigative teams, considers that in the present circumstances, it is unthinkable that the promises made by issad Rebrab last spring will be honored on time. For this newspaper, this constraint was expected because the entrepreneurial adventure of Issad Rebrab at Piombino lacked financial and industrial strength.

Furthermore, according to “Il Sole 24 Ore”, the Italian Government, which closely follows the tricky evolution of the acquisition, had to postpone a meeting with Issad Rebrab to be held on 27 July in Rome among the latter, the Italian Minister economic development and the Aferpi unions.