Russia’s war idles some European mills as energy costs soar

By COLLEEN BARRY
AP Business Writer

MILAN (AP) — Italian paper mills that make everything from pizza boxes to furniture packaging have ground to a halt as the Russian war in Ukraine sent natural gas prices skyrocketing. Likewise, Italian steel mills turned off electric furnaces last week. And fishermen, facing huge spikes in oil prices, stayed in port, mending nets instead of casting them. Nowhere more than in Italy is the dependence on Russian energy taking a higher toll on industry, where some 40% of electricity is generated from natural gas, compared with roughly one-quarter in Germany, another major importer and the continent’s largest economy.