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Trading Firm Restarts Idled Rolling Mill
10/16/2015 - A metals trading firm is re-opening an idled Welsh rolling mill and plans to produce 50,000 metric tons of hot rolled coil per month, according to reports.
“We intend to buck the recent trend in the U.K. steel industry,” Sanjeev Gupta, Liberty’s managing director, told The Financial Times.
The firm, Liberty House, bought the former Mir Steel facility in 2013 and has since renamed it Liberty Steel Newport (LSN). LSN will primarily serve the U.K. market, but it also intends to sell abroad.
Gupta told The Guardian newspaper that he believes this is a good time to reopen the mill because prices cannot go much lower, and there is much goodwill from suppliers and customers, against the backdrop of a growing U.K. economy.
Of course, the U.K. steel industry has been challenged as of late. Thailand’s Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), for instance, has closed its Redcar works in Teesside, England, and other producers, including Tata Steel, have scaled back production.
The U.K. is, in fact, is holding a steel summit on 16 October 2015 to discuss the crisis.
LSN will import slabs from countries such as Russia or Brazil, according to The Guardian. It is starting out with 150 employees, but said that if industrial energy prices were brought in line with the rest of Europe, the mill could easily grow its payroll to 1,000 people by making other steel products.
The facility has an electric arc furnace, and Gupta said there plans to put it back into service.
The firm, Liberty House, bought the former Mir Steel facility in 2013 and has since renamed it Liberty Steel Newport (LSN). LSN will primarily serve the U.K. market, but it also intends to sell abroad.
Gupta told The Guardian newspaper that he believes this is a good time to reopen the mill because prices cannot go much lower, and there is much goodwill from suppliers and customers, against the backdrop of a growing U.K. economy.
Of course, the U.K. steel industry has been challenged as of late. Thailand’s Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), for instance, has closed its Redcar works in Teesside, England, and other producers, including Tata Steel, have scaled back production.
The U.K. is, in fact, is holding a steel summit on 16 October 2015 to discuss the crisis.
LSN will import slabs from countries such as Russia or Brazil, according to The Guardian. It is starting out with 150 employees, but said that if industrial energy prices were brought in line with the rest of Europe, the mill could easily grow its payroll to 1,000 people by making other steel products.
The facility has an electric arc furnace, and Gupta said there plans to put it back into service.
