Cimolai collapses under the weight of derivatives
There is a certain irony in reading that a company made famous by building complex steel structures falls for a house of cards. We are talking about Cimolai, a Friulian company with over 70 years of history and a long list of orders which, however, ends up in crisis due to derivative securities that have literally blown the bank. In fact, it is not a question of an industrial problem, of lack of orders or explosion of costs due to inflation; but if anything, an intricate system of guarantees and counter-guarantees to protect themselves on the financial markets which, however, have turned against the company. The debt has reached its quota 500 million and the creditors are on a war footing.
Cimolai had created for Allseas – one of the largest international offshore companies based in Switzerland, specializing in pipeline laying, heavy lifting and subsea construction – two steel girders each 170 meters long. Not only that: there is also the construction of four modules intended to house part of the plants and machinery for the treatment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) of the Kitimat terminal, in the British Columbia region of Canada; the largest telescope on the planet, the ELT in the Atacama Desert in Chile; the United Arab Emirates pavilion at Expo 2021 in Dubai, the Al Bayt stadium in Qatar for the World Cup, the floodgates for the new Panama canal, Calatrava’s “Oculus” metro station in Ground Zero a New York, the Vessel honeycomb structure and The Shed cultural center both also in Manhattan. In Italy, among other works, Cimolai built the new Fiumicino Airport Terminal in Rome and the Reggio Emilia AV railway station.
In short, a large and rich order portfolio for a value of around 800 million. And yet… According to Affaritaliani.it, it would not have been the Cimolai family who signed the contracts, but the CFO and other managers of the financial area, promptly dismissed. And the London broker Jb Drax who, as reported by Il Sole 24 Ore, allegedly set up imaginative products, with bizarre names and speculative and very risky instruments. In fact, the company is now trying to get back on the broker in London and has already launched a lawsuit.
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