The international steel and minerals group Liberty House has announced that in June this year it will reopen the steel pipe and tube manufacturing plant at Tredegar in the South Wales Valleys, which had been closed last year.
According to the company’s statement, the reopened plant will form the latest link in a British steel supply value chain Liberty is developing, that will encompass all stages of the process, using green energy to upcycle scrap steel from its melting through to the engineering of advanced products. Hot rolled coil (HRC) for the Tredegar plant will come from the rolling mill at nearby Liberty Steel Newport, itself restarted in October 2015, over two years after being mothballed.
Tredegar’s output will replace some of the almost one million mt of steel tube currently imported into the UK each year for construction and manufacturing.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the reopening in June, the company has been re-contacting former workers from the plant. Tredegar will be expanding its range of products and is planning multiple training opportunities for young apprentices.
The facility was part of the UK-based Caparo Industries group of steel and engineering companies rescued from administration by Liberty in November and December last year.