GFG Alliance has finalised the purchase of the hydro energy-powered Tasmanian Electro Metallurgical Company (TEMCO) smelter in Bell Bay in northern Tasmania, a significant step forward in its pursuit to be self-sufficient in the supply chain.
LIBERTY Steel, part of sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, has committed to a programme of new investments at its South Yorkshire GREENSTEEL production hub at Rotherham to supply the transport, defence, and construction sectors as part of the UK government’s Build Back Better plan.
The investments, totalling more than £60m, will remove production bottlenecks at its electric arc furnace (N-Furnace) and small bloom caster in Rotherham, helping the business to double existing steel output to 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).
LIBERTY will launch a public tender to upgrade its N-Furnace for increased scrap steel melting, make upgrades to Thrybergh Bar Mill and install a new Rod Block to produce wire rod and de-bar in coil.
The programme will boost supply of sustainably-produced reinforcing bar “GreBar” for schools, hospitals, houses, energy facilities and transport links as part of the UK government’s £100bn infrastructure spending plan.
LIBERTY’s production increase will reduce the UK’s reliance on imported steel, helping to strengthen the UK supply chain and secure high-value jobs.
The new initiatives follow hot on the heels of the first shipments of GreBar from Thrybergh targeted at UK infrastructure projects such as HS2.
LIBERTY aims to partner with a rebar fabrication company onsite for GreBar production.
Read the full media release on the LIBERTY Steel Group website.
LIBERTY Powder Metals, part of sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, has started commercial production at its high-tech new Teesside powder metals facility, targeting fast-growing demand from the advanced manufacturing and 3D printing industries.
LIBERTY Powder Metals will produce a range of stainless steel and nickel superalloy powders for precision components in demanding sectors such as automotive, aerospace and engineering, the premium end of the global powder metals market already worth more than £2bn a year.
The cutting-edge powder production process cuts carbon emissions by 85% compared with the traditional steel route*, part of LIBERTY Steel’s CN30 strategy that will make the company carbon neutral by 2030.
Minute spherical powder particles are processed to the highest specifications in a vacuum induction argon gas atomiser, the only one of this kind in the UK, with a unique anti-satellite facility to increase productivity.
The landmark is the culmination of a two-year collaboration with the Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and the Combined Authority, which provided £4.6mn of funding, and the Materials Processing Institute, which housed the atomiser beside its own research facilities. Atomising Systems Ltd and Consarc Engineering have worked closely on equipment design.
LIBERTY Powder Metals’ General Manager, Simon Pike, said: “This has been a great achievement amid unprecedented challenges from the Covid pandemic. The resolve and resilience of our team and our contractors to overcome supply chain constraints has been invaluable.
Read the full media release on the LIBERTY Steel Group website.
LIBERTY Steel UK, part of sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, is set to ship its first orders of sustainably-produced steel reinforcing bar (rebar) after securing full Cares and sustainability approval this week.
Orders of nearly 10,000 tonnes will be delivered before the end of the year, building on LIBERTY’s strategy to supply GREENSTEEL components to UK construction and infrastructure projects and reduce the UK’s reliance on imported steel.
Following successful summer trials at LIBERTY Steel’s Rotherham rolling mill, LIBERTY started production of its ‘GreBar’ – reflecting its sustainable production from scrap metal melted in an electric arc furnace – in October, ahead of a visit by shadow cabinet ministers Ed Miliband MP and John Healey MP.
Rebar is used as a tension device for reinforced concrete structures in major road, rail and construction projects. LIBERTY’s mill has the capability to produce rebar in sizes 25, 32, 40 and 50mm in Grade B500C, with plans to add 20mm to its offering.
LIBERTY Steel is aiming to challenge the UK’s current reliance on imported rebar and target future infrastructure projects. Half of the 1.2 million tonnes of rebar used annually in the UK is sourced from abroad while the HS2 rail project will require nearly one million tonnes of rebar. Upgrades and replacement of existing residential and transport infrastructure will also fuel future demand.
Visit the LIBERTY Steel Group website to read the full media release.
LIBERTY Steel USA, part of sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, has completed the acquisitions of Ohio-based companies Solon Specialty Wire and Shaped Wire from Leggett & Platt, opening new product markets and avenues for growth for LIBERTY in the United States.
A leading manufacturer of drawn steel wire, cold‐rolled shapes, and aluminium products, Solon provides solutions for customers in the automotive, fiber optic, food packaging and medical end markets.
Solon will be incorporated and managed under the LIBERTY Johnstown Wire business and will provide additional diversification of product offerings into areas such as optical, medical and shaped wire applications.
Visit the LIBERTY Steel Group website to read the full media release
LIBERTY Steel, part of sustainable industry leader GFG Alliance, has this week restarted the first phase of production at Adhunik Metaliks Ltd and Zion Steel (“Adhunik”) following the acquisition of the steel businesses in February 2020. The restart has been achieved in just six months following intensive work to prepare the site for their return to steelmaking operations after the previous owner fell into administration.
Adhunik is an integrated steel plant located at Chadrihariharpur near Rourkela in Odisha. The plant has sponge iron facility, blast furnace and electric arc furnace (EAF) steel making capability with 0.5mtpa capacity, ferro – alloy plant and a 34MW captive power plant. The sites produce alloy steel products for the automotive, energy, engineering and oil & gas sectors besides participating in the commodity market of sponge iron and billets.
Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman of LIBERTY Steel Group and GFG Alliance, today celebrated the restart of LIBERTY Magona’s Pickling Line and the completion of the restart work for the plant’s Organic Coated Line No1. The €10 million investment has led to a 40% increase in production capacity and a 20% increase in employment at the site with 81 young recruits joining the business.
Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman, LIBERTY Steel Group and GFG Alliance said: “I’m delighted to celebrate the first steps in our transformation plan for LIBERTY Magona just 12 months after we acquired the business, and many years since the facility has received investment. The €10 million we have invested to restart the mothballed production lines will boost our capability and competitiveness, but most importantly it will see the next generation coming into our business with 81 new recruits between the ages of 20-25 years joining the LIBERTY Magona team. It is vital to the future of our economy and wider society that we attract more young people into the high-quality, high-skilled, jobs our industry can offer.
“I’d like to thank everyone for being here today. After a difficult time over the last few months following the COVID-19 outbreak, I am pleased we can celebrate some good news and I look forward to further developments in the years to come as we continue to implement our transformation plan.”
Sanjeev was joined by Francesco Ferrari, the Mayor of Piombino, employees and around 40 guests observing strict social distancing rules to formally inaugurate the pickling line which entered service in February this year.
Visit the LIBERTY Steel Group website to read the full media release
LIBERTY Steel Group UK (“LSUK”) today reaffirms its commitment to the UK as it sets out the next phase of its GREENSTEEL strategy with investment programmes focussed on an evolving market demand and gaps in the domestic supply chain.
LSUK has made substantial investments in the Rotherham steel operations it acquired three years ago from Tata Steel, when the business was producing just 225,000 tonnes per annum. On 16th Feb 2018, HRH Prince Charles switched on the second Electric Arc Furnace, the “N Furnace” at Rotherham, and inspired Sanjeev Gupta’s GREENSTEEL mission. This together with various upgrades to the plant has enabled the business to more than double production at Rotherham to over 500,000 tonnes per annum.
LSUK today announces that it will further boost production at Rotherham to over 1mtpa through investments to expand its product mix and making more productive use of its rolling mills to target attractive market segments.
UK market demand for reinforcement bar (rebar) amounts to c.1.2 million tonnes annually, worth over £500 million. At present, half of this demand is met by imports, despite there being a surplus of scrap metal recovered in the UK which could be recycled into new steel products through Electric Arc Furnace (EAFs).
Given this gap in the market and further growth in construction expected from infrastructure projects such as HS2, LSUK is targeting this market by expanding its GREENSTEEL* product range.
LSUK is extending the product range of its Thrybergh Bar Mill* at Rotherham to include the production of construction rebar from September 2020. There are also plans to add capability to produce wire rod to feed both engineering and construction markets. With this new product strategy, LSUK will supply UK produced GREENSTEEL into the pipeline of domestic infrastructure projects that will be vital to the UK’s recovery in the post-pandemic economy.
Visit the LIBERTY Steel Group website to read the full media release.
Sanjeev Gupta, the Executive Chairman of GFG Alliance, which includes LIBERTY Steel Group, today welcomed Ludovic Orban, the Prime Minister of Romania, to LIBERTY Galati as he signed a series of agreements with Government, the national gas company Romgaz, EximBank Romania and also local educational institutions to help deliver his GREENSTEEL vision
During the visit, Sanjeev and Mr Virgil-Daniel Popescu, the Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) supported by Prime Minister Orban, which incorporates GFG’s plan to install modern steel-making technologies, significantly reducing direct CO2 emissions, increasing the use of lower carbon energy sources and creating a more flexible, competitive operation.
Alongside the investment MoU, GFG Alliance signed agreements with key national suppliers and respected educational institutions that will work with LIBERTY Galati to deliver the transformation through the provision of competitive energy, skills, research, know how and finance.
Commenting on the Prime Minister’s visit and the signing of the various MoUs, Sanjeev Gupta the Executive Chairman of GFG Alliance, said: “It is a great honour to welcome the Prime Minister and other senior members of the Romanian government here today in support of our GREENSTEEL vision for Galati. Through their backing, and the agreements we have signed today with Romgaz we will be able to deliver the competitive long term energy needed to underpin this exciting project. Galati University will partner with us to create a GREENSTEEL Academy aimed at developing a new generation of highly skilled workers equipped to handle cutting edge technologies. The National Research Institute will help develop the know how required to deliver complex hydrogen projects. EximBank Romania will cooperate with us to secure competitive long term funding for the project.”
“It is very encouraging to see such strong local support united with us to make Galati the GREENSTEEL flagship in Europe. I have no doubt this project will be a great success and will put Galati on the map not only in Europe but globally as a new age sustainable low carbon steel plant built for the next generations to come.”
GFG Alliance GREENSTEEL investment plans include:
Summaries of the MoUs are below:
Accles & Pollock, the precision metal tubular assembly business which is part of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, has won the International Trade category in the prestigious Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2020.
The Oldbury-based firm, which was established over 100 years ago and acquired by GFG’s LIBERTY House business in 2015, won the award for growth in exports that doubled over two years to £4.7m in 2018/19. Accles & Pollock specialises in high-spec components for aerospace engines, nuclear submarines and land-based power generation.
The increase in exports was a response to key customers such as Rolls-Royce extending their manufacturing presence across the globe. More than half of Accles and Pollock’s sales now come from overseas markets spanning Singapore, USA, Canada, France and Germany.
Accles & Pollock, which employs 50 people, is a leading manufacturer of rigid and flexible pipes, aerospace ducts and tube coils for high integrity applications across the aerospace, medical, nuclear, scientific, and oil and gas sectors.
Visit the LIBERTY Steel Group website to read the full media release.
