Liberty House will ramp up production in Newport

International metals group Liberty House will nearly double its hot rolled coil (HRC) production at its Newport rolling mill in South Wales.

Production of HRC, used in construction, automotive and pipe manufacturing at the plant, is expected to double to 370,000 tonnes per year.

Liberty's medium-term plan is to increase output at its Newport plant to 1 million tonnes, relying on imported raw material cooker as work is planned to install a renewable electric arc furnace.

This latest investment follows GFG's July acquisition of Bird Port with a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum and steel handling operator Cargo Services in Newport.
"We can make the steel industry competitive," said Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House.

Market sources noted that Liberty had significant supply delays for most of the year, which meant it missed out on much of the recent rise in market prices.