GFG Alliance, the parent company of international industrial and metals group Liberty House, has announced that it plans to create a total of five million mt of low-carbon steelmaking capacity over the next five years, from its current capacity of 1.1 million mt per year, as part of a drive to develop a green and competitive future for manufacturing in the UK. According to the company, the plan would play an important role in delivering the vision for ‘clean growth’ outlined in the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper released on November 27.
GFG Alliance, which already employs 5,500 workers at its Liberty House UK steel and engineering plants, has stated that, as part of its own GREENSTEEL strategy, it aims to recycle at home a large proportion of the 7.2 million mt per year of scrap currently exported from the UK each year.
According to the company’s statement, at present the UK exports more of its scrap for processing abroad than any other developed economy and this abundant raw material - 10 million mt a year rising to 20 million mt within a decade - provides the country with a huge opportunity to drive clean growth by making low-carbon steel at home.
Jay Hambro, chief investment officer of GFG Alliance, stated that the government’s White Paper acknowledges clearly that green energy and industrial competitiveness go hand in hand and said that GFG Alliance welcomes the document’s emphasis on clean growth. That link between energy and industry has been at the heart of the company’s own GREENSTEEL strategy, according to Mr. Hambro.