Acciaierie d'Italia's commissioners have asked to place up to 8,622 of roughly 10,000 workers on state-funded temporary layoff until February, after Taranto's last blast furnace stopped for lack of raw materials in early October, ahead of a Milan appeal-court order to shut the hot end by 28 October that the Supreme Court is now reviewing alongside judgment reserved. A 13 October decree allows the furnaces to be kept warm until 15 December, & a 14 October agreement keeps the Genoa, Taranto & Novi Ligure finishing plants running on 35,000 tonnes a month of third-party coil. Strikes have followed in Taranto & Genoa as a shutdown proceeds in everything but name .