“The contract, for the delivery of 3,000 tons of steel pipes, was concluded at the beginning of November and will be finalized in December,” according to ArcelorMittal Iasi union leader, Constantin Rotaru, quoted by Mediafax. According to the contract, one ton of piping costs some €600. The contract was not concluded directly with Ferrari, as the pipes are distributed to one of the companies of the ArcelorMittal group, to be processed in Germany before being delivered to the Italian company.

Ferrari began a partial demolition of its 70-year-old central headquarters in the city of Maranello, and some buildings are scheduled to be replaced.

ArcellorMittal Iasi, formerly Tepro, concluded a similar contract in 2001 with one of the companies belonging to German automobile producer, Mercedes.

The steelmaker registered a 7.4 percent drop in total revenue in the first half of 2007, to RON 113.5 mln (€776,140), while losses increased by 7 percent to RON 2.58 mln from RON 2.39 (€670,000) in H1 2006.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest metallurgy company, owns other steel plants in Romania, in Galati, Roman and Hunedoara, as well as the Romportmet Galati port operator.

Ferrari initiated a partnership with Forza Rosa, official Romanian importer of the brand, for the construction of its first Ferrari service center in the country, to be inaugurated in 2008.