International industrial and metals group Liberty House has announced that it has completed the purchase of two pipe mills at Hartlepool from Tata Steel UK, a subsidiary of India-based Tata Steel Limited.
Liberty stated that it intends to rebuild the previously struggling operation at Hartlepool, adding around 100 new jobs to the existing 140-strong workforce. The company aims to supply the 42-inch and 84-inch longitudinal submerged arc welded (LSAW) pipe mills at Hartlepool with steel from its plate facilities in Scotland where it plans to develop capability to make heavy duty API grade steel used in the energy industry. The pipe mills have a combined capacity of 250,000 mt per year.
In early July this year, Liberty signed a provisional agreement with Tata Steel UK to acquire its pipe mills based at Hartlepool, which have faced difficulties in recent times due to the downturn in the UK oil and gas sector.