Liberty Steel’s downed wire and rod plant in Peoria, Illinois is now expected to restart on March 3, 2025, pending the acceptance of “certain financial deals,” market insiders told SteelOrbis.
The plant, the largest in the US with a combined wire and wire rod production capacity of 700,000 tons, was built in 1902. Market insiders say the unit has been in need of substantial equipment upgrades for years so as to remain competitive with newer and more efficient electric arc furnaces being built now in the US.
“While the market for wire rod remains tight, Liberty announced that they will be back in production by March 3 of next year, but it all depends if certain financial packages go through,” one long steel market insider told SteelOrbis.
Calls to Liberty by SteelOrbis to confirm recent reports and get more details on the reported plant restart were not immediately returned. Liberty is the largest producer of wire rod for the US and global construction industry in the US.
Recently, the loss of production from the Liberty facility has caused wire rod prices to rise, with most recent transactions noted at $780-804/nt ($860-904/mt), or $39.00-41.00/cwt., up nearly 10 percent since early-October.
An earlier SteelOrbis report from September reported that the plant had temporarily reduced production at its melt shop and rod mill because of “ongoing challenges the US steel market is facing, including low-priced imports.” It was also reported that the company had decided to minimize production at its wire mill. Later reports indicated the facility would close altogether at the end of October, with existing stocks expected to be sold.
