Plans unveiled for 2m tonne GREENSTEEL plant at Newport

Gupta Family Group Alliance companies, Liberty House and SIMEC, have unveiled major plans to turn their adjacent Newport sites into a two million tonne a year steel super-plant, powered by renewable energy.

It would be the first GREENSTEEL facility in the UK and would play a major part in a renaissance of the struggling sector by meeting up to 20% of current steel needs.

Newport’s key role at the forefront of a green revolution in UK steel was outlined to the city’s elected representatives during a fact-finding visit to Liberty’s 1.2m tonne a year rolling mill and SIMEC’s adjacent 396 megawatt Uskmouth Power Station.

Both Newport MPs, Jessica Morden and Paul Flynn, and Assembly Members, John Griffiths and newly-elected Jayne Bryant, were briefed on how the plants will help realise the vision for a sustainable steel sector, powered by renewable energy.

They met top management of SIMEC and who explained how the UK’s changing energy policies will help achieve the dual objective of reducing carbon emissions while making the UK steel sector competitive again.

Liberty executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta explained how the firm intends to install 2m tonnes of liquid steel-making capacity at Newport and almost double the existing rolling capacity at the site.

At the same time, as part of its GREENSTEEL strategy, SIMEC aims to power the steel plant by converting its existing coal-fired power-station to eco-friendly biomass generation. Longer term it will develop a centre of excellence for renewable energy that includes various forms of green power, including waste-to-energy and tidal lagoon power in the adjacent estuary.

All of this can provide low-cost, low-carbon fuel sources to power a steel industry which in turn can be made more competitive and sustainable through recycling and upcycling of Britain’s growing mountain of scrap. 

A recent University of Cambridge report predicted that the UK’s supply of scrap will rise from 10m to 20m tonnes a year within a decade. At present 70% of Britain’s scrap steel is melted abroad, because of high power prices, but melting at home instead would generate thousands of new jobs.

Following significant investments SIMEC reopened Uskmouth Power Station and Liberty restarted the adjacent steel rolling mill in 2015, both of which had been mothballed by previous owners.

At present the two sites employ over 200 people with plans for many hundreds more when SIMEC rolls out its energy park plan and Liberty recommences the melting of scrap steel at Newport. The Newport sites are part of the Liberty’s nationwide network employing a total of over 1,500 people, which also includes steel making and engineering facilities in Tredegar, the West Midlands and Scotland. 

Mr Gupta who co-hosted the visit with SIMEC’s Head of Energy, Industrials and Mining, Jay Hambro, said: “This was a very valuable opportunity to brief Newport’s elected representatives about our GREENSTEEL vision, which we believe will generate many new skilled jobs in the city and ultimately make a major difference to the whole UK steel and wider manufacturing sectors.

“Historically Newport has been one of the country’s most important steel-making locations so it’s very appropriate that this is the springboard for our GREENSTEEL plans. If we can make steel competitively in the UK, we can generate potentially hundreds of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing sector nationwide,” he added.

He explained that he and his colleagues wanted to create a major fully-integrated ‘end-to-end’ business which encompassed everything from green power, through liquid steel production, to steel processing and the manufacture and distribution of high-value steel products.

Mr Gupta added that Government support in removing carbon tax on power stations feeding steel plants, their backing for conversion of coal-fired stations to biomass and the green light for tidal lagoon power would give the steel industry and manufacturing a huge boost and a bright future.   

Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East which includes both Llanwern Steelworks and the SIMEC and Liberty plants said: “It was fantastic to visit SIMEC and Liberty Steel today to learn first-hand from Sanjeev about the GREENSTEEL programme which has huge potential for Newport, linking the steel plant with a biomass power station and tidal lagoon. This is very exciting for our area and for the steel industry.”

Further information from Eoghan Mortell 07977 555116

blogger@steelonthenet.com

Liberty House re-opens Tredegar steelworks in the UK

Liberty House will re-open yet another steelworks next month (June 2016) as it steps up its drive to transform the UK steel industry.

As part of its GREENSTEEL strategy, Liberty is set to re-start steel pipe and tube manufacturing at Tredegar in the South Wales Valleys, closed by administrators in 2015. This is the 7th British steelworks Liberty House has re-opened in as many months. Tredegar was inaugurated by Prince Charles in 1977.  A second production line was inaugurated there by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1978 and the heyday of this high-profile facility was in the 1980s and 1990s.

The re-opened plant will form the latest link in a British steel supply value chain Liberty is developing, that will encompass all stages of the process, using green energy to "upcycle" scrap steel from its melting through to the engineering of advanced products. Hot rolled coil for the plant will come from the rolling mill at nearby Liberty Steel Newport, itself re-started in October 2015, over two years after being mothballed.

Tredegar's output will replace some of the almost one million tonnes of steel tube currently imported into the UK each year for construction and manufacturing. The UK currently has one of the highest import dependency levels of this core product in the developed world. In preparation for the re-opening in June, the company has been re-contacting former workers from the plant. Tredegar will be expanding its range of products and is planning multiple training opportunities for young apprentices. The facility was part of the Caparo Industries group of steel and engineering companies rescued from administration by Liberty in November and December last year.

Several companies from the group are now thriving in the West Midlands, supplying a range of core and advanced products to automotive, aerospace and other‎ manufacturers. For example, last week Liberty Vehicle Technology's 920Engineering unit unveiled an industry-first fully-integrated parkbrake system, marketed to automotive OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) for high-spec vehicles.

Executive chairman of Liberty House, Sanjeev Gupta said: "Tredegar will once again supply steel tube domestically. This is great news for the UK steel industry and for skilled workers in South Wales. It is also another step in turning the tide for the UK's steel industry. Steel tube is a vital link in the supply chain and adds to the integration which is essential for the sector. 

"The steel ecosystem is at the heart of manufacturing, and the global oversupply of steel increases the need for the UK to refocus our industrial strategy around both reducing costs and adding value to steel. Without significant change we will lose the remaining cornerstone of manufacturing. Our plan is to restructure the sector around production efficiency, engineering integration, and innovation. Britain's outstanding skills, engineering and production knowledge and resources can re-invigorate the supply chain and bring about a new industrial renaissance."

Based on 25 years' experience in global steel markets, Liberty has developed its "GREENSTEEL"‎ vision for a clean, integrated and competitive UK steel industry, based on melting and upcycling the growing mountain of scrap in the UK.

According to a recent report from the University of Cambridge, the volume of recoverable steel emerging in the UK from sources ranging from scrap vehicles and household appliances to ageing Victorian infrastructure, is set to rise from 10m to 20m tonnes a year in the next decade. Around 70% of UK scrap generated is already exported for melting abroad, a far higher proportion than competitor countries. This is expected to increase substantially unless the UK builds high-tech recycling facilities to recover this resource.

Mr Gupta called for the development of a national strategy for the creation of a sustainable manufacturing base in the UK. "This is much bigger than steel. Resolving the steel crisis opens the door to the rejuvenation of manufacturing and making a host of high-value goods in this country. Government and industry need to agree a road map that contains a consistent approach to all the vital ingredients: competitive energy, competitive raw materials, innovation, skills, and an investment-friendly environment. The only way to stand up to the forces of globalization is with a value-adding game plan."

Andrzej M Kotas, MBA

Managing Director

Metals Consulting International Limited

Website: www.steelonthenet.com

Liberty House completes acquisition of steel mills

Statement from Liberty House regarding the steel plate works at Dalzell and Clydebridge

Liberty House has completed its acquisition of the former Tata Steel plate making facilities at Dalzell and Clydebridge in Lanarkshire.

The deal involved a back-to-back transaction in which the Scottish Government acquired the two plants from Tata Steel and immediately sold them to Liberty House.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House said: “We’re very pleased to announce that we have completed the deal to acquire Tata’s plate mills in Scotland and we now look forward to continuing to work with local management and the workforce to re-build these great businesses in the months ahead. We’re very grateful for the valuable support of the Scottish Government and the trade unions in concluding this deal. Our team are continuing to evaluate the opportunity to make a bid for other Tata UK assets.”

Commenting First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am delighted that the final details of the deal to transfer the Scottish steel plants is now concluded and implemented. We are very grateful to Liberty for their foresight in coming forward to take up this exciting opportunity in Scotland and for the energetic and speedy manner in which they worked with the Scottish Government to help save these jobs. We look forward to working very closely with them in the future.

“When we convened the Scottish Steel Taskforce back in October we did so with a determination not to stand by and watch these plants close, but to do everything possible to secure a new operator, and to do whatever we could to make the plants an attractive proposition. I am delighted that that approach has proved successful.”

 Scottish Business Minister, Fergus Ewing, who chaired the Scottish Steel Taskforce, said: “I was pleased to update the House of Commons Select Committee on this exciting news for the Scottish steel industry when I gave evidence to their inquiry this morning.

 “Over the course of eight taskforce meetings and a lot of other engagement we made significant progress in five key areas to support the industry, namely business rates, energy costs, environmental issues, skills and procurement.  It has been a team effort which has paid off and once again the steelworkers of Scotland will produce world class products from Lanarkshire.

 "The individuals who worked for us from the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and SEPA were outstanding in their effort and commitment to the task before us.  I am truly grateful to all these public servants for their work, as well as to the local trades union reps and the management”

ENDS

Further information from Eoghan Mortell on 07977 555116

Note to Editors

About Liberty House Group

Liberty House Group is an international business, specialising in metals trading and the manufacture and distribution of steel and advanced engineering products. Operating from four strategically-positioned hubs in London, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, the Group has a network of operations spread across 30 countries. The Group is focused on creating a sustainable, balanced international business that is non-cyclical, environmentally conscious and socially responsible, and has an integrated and agile business model.

blogger@steelonthenet.com

News update - SIMEC Group / Liberty House

Gupta family recruits Jay Hambro to its Strategic Board

The Gupta family, which controls commodities, energy and industrial interests worldwide has today (20^th January) appointed Jay Hambro as a senior member of its Group management team.

Mr Hambro, 41, who has been executive chairman of Sino-Russian Hong Kong exchange-listed industrial commodities champion IRC since 2010, is a well-known figure in the international mining and commodities industry. He joins the Guptas’ Group Strategic Board as Group Chief Investment Officer and Chief Executive Officer of SIMEC Energy & Mining Divisions, spearheading the ambitious global development plans of the business.

The Gupta family, which owns two international commodity and industrial groups, SIMEC and Liberty House, has been undertaking major investments in recent months including the purchase of Uskmouth Power Station and reactivation of the Liberty Steel rolling mill, both in South Wales, and the acquisition of most of the former Caparo steel and engineering businesses in the UK West Midlands.

Mr Hambro’s primary role will focus on the aggressive worldwide development of SIMEC, (Shipping, Industrials, Mining, Energy & Commodities), which currently includes a power generating arm and a global portfolio of trading operations focused on the resources sector.

One of his immediate roles will be to lead the completion of the purchase of the Tungsten Bank which Gupta family interests recently entered into an agreement to acquire, as part of its broader strategy to invest in finance for the commodities industry. This is subject to the approval of the Prudential Regulation Authority.

After graduating in business management, Mr Hambro began his career in resource finance with NM Rothschild & Sons, before moving to the investment bank of HSBC, advising multinational mining groups. He then joined what is now the Petropavlovsk plc group in a business development role and later as Chief Investment Officer before spearheading the development of their industrial commodity divisions as Aricom plc (FTSE listed) and more recently at IRC Limited.

Under his leadership the IRC business has become the first vertically integrated industrial commodity producer in Russia; has constructed and commissioned c.30mtpa of iron ore mining and processing operations with a near-term plan of bringing on stream one of the lowest cost new iron ore mines in the world; and has raised well over US$1bn in development finance for these projects.

P K Gupta, Chairman of the SIMEC Group, explained: “Appointing Jay Hambro is a key hire as a part of our evolution and growth plans. Jay has a proven successful track record in buying, building, operating and financing commodity businesses. He is well respected in the sector and I am delighted that he is joining our team.”

Jay Hambro said: “I am very pleased and honoured to be joining this highly successful team. What the group has achieved in creating a dynamic and entrepreneurial business unit focused on commodities is to be commended. I began working closely with the team some months ago on another project and so I am well aware of both their capabilities and their aggressive expansion plans.”

Further information from Jessica Beeken, +44 (0) 7429 176511 JessicaBeeken@workingword.co.uk .Eoghan Mortell + 44 (0) 07977 555 116 eoghan.mortell@workingword.co.uk

Note to Editors

The SIMEC Group is a multi-faceted commodity business spanning five continents, with operations that extend to an industrial base covering shipping, Industrial, Mining, Energy and Commodities.

Liberty House Group (“Liberty”) is an international steel and non-ferrous metals group, operating from its four hubs in the UK, Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong, with a global network of offices spread across 30 countries. The Group’s global steel production capacity exceeds 4 million tonnes per annum. Current Group turnover is approximately $6 billion.