On Thursday, October 12, Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of international industrial and metals group Liberty House, attended the inauguration of two of the group’s plants, namely, Liberty Steel Hartlepool and Liberty Steel Scunthorpe.
According to Liberty’s release, the Scunthorpe plant expects to produce around 170,000 mt of merchant bar this year, increasing this by around 30 percent in 2018. The site’s fully-automated production lines have the capacity to produce around 300,000 mt a year of long products including flat, round and square bars, steel angles, convex bars, beams and crane rails.
Managing director of Liberty Steel Scunthorpe Steve Unwin explained that the plant aims to increase sales figures by working with other Liberty sites to offer customers - particularly those in the construction sector - a combined package containing a range of complementary British-made steels. The Scunthorpe plant is targeting growth both in the UK market, where it will challenge imported steels, and in overseas markets, including mainland Europe.
Regarding the Hartlepool pipe mills, Liberty intends to increase output fourfold to 80,000 mt next year, adding extra shifts and generating around 100 new jobs as order books fill up again. In the longer term, Liberty wants to get the pipe mills, whose combined capacity is over 300,000 mt a year, back to full production.
James Annal, chief executive of Liberty Pipes Division, said he was very optimistic about the future of the plant, adding that they have already begun taking new orders for both standard and project-specific pipe.