In July 2019, the seven steel works and five service centers were purchased in a EUR740 million deal that made Liberty Steel, part of the Gupta Family Group (GFG) Alliance, one of the top 10 global steel producers, excluding China, with a total rolling capacity in excess of 18 million tons.

The steel works, which will operate under the name Liberty Steel Continental Europe, are in Ostrava, Czech Republic; Galati, Romania; Piombino, Italy; Skopje, North Macedonia; Dudelange, Luxembourg; and two plants near Liege, Belgium. Together, they employ 14,000 people and take the GFG Alliance’s global workforce to nearly 30,000 across 30 countries. Liberty has set a goal of expanding sales at these plants by 50% by 2022.

“These are well-positioned sites in strategic locations with highly skilled workforces. We believe the quality of the facilities, complemented by incremental capital investment, will facilitate the development of the product portfolios. We intend to use these strong foundations to expand into Western Europe,” said Jon Bolton, chief executive officer of Liberty Steel Continental Europe, in a statement.

Liberty intends to apply elements of GFG Alliance’s GREENSTEEL approach to the sites — including exploring opportunities for renewable energy and for a reduction in waste.

Read the full press release here.