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Liberty House owner acquires 800,000-tpy capacity steel port in UK

GFG Alliance, the parent company of international metals group Liberty House, has acquired the freehold and cargo-handling services of Bird Port in Newport, South Wales, UK, it said on Thursday July 5.

July 5, 2018
By Generic people page

Bird Port, which will be renamed SIMEC Bird Port following completion of the deal, handles cargoes totaling as much as 800,000 tonnes per year, mainly steel and bulk products. The port is also used by other steelmakers in the South Wales region.

“We’re planning to install major steelmaking capacity at the nearby Liberty Steel Newport [plant] and convert the neighboring Uskmouth power station to renewable energy to drive the steel mill,” Liberty House executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said.

The restart of crude steel production at Liberty’s hot-rolled coil (HRC) mill and the conversion of the power station are expected to be achieved within the next two years, Metal Bulletin understands.

Liberty House currently imports slab from its own steelmaking plant in Whyalla, South Australia, to feed the Newport HRC rolling mill, which is expected to produce around 440,000 tpy in 2018.

The first such 24,000-tonne slab cargo arrived at Newport mill’s own port in early May, rather than at the newly acquired Bird Port.