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The lawsuit adds a wrinkle to Liberty Steel’s plans to raise an additional $70 million to invest in capital expenditures at its Peoria factory and cover the cost of relocating its headquarters from Dallas, Texas, to Peoria, representing a new investment above the capital funding of its ongoing ramp-up of operations at the plant.
A steel buyer said the lawsuit “is a blow [but] is a small consideration in the big picture [of the company’s new investment plan].”
“If the [new] financing is true and the market doesn’t collapse after its massive runup [in wire rod prices over the past year], they could be in a good position and the billet bill [from ArcelorMittal] would not have to be fatal,” the buyer said.
The steel buyer said Liberty is continuing its process of ramping up operations at the plant with funding previously obtained from investors led by BlackRock, the company’s investment bank.
An industry source familiar with Liberty’s operations said, “They’re working through that process and as they ramp up, they will be in a better position to handle all their liabilities.”
The buyer attributed Liberty’s losses over recent years to the company’s strategy of pricing below its competitors in a market overwhelmed by imports.
Investors in the restart led by BlackRock inserted terms in the funding that require the steelmaker to maintain pricing closer to that of domestic competitors to make their operations more financially sustainable, the buyer said.
“We started buying from them to assure they survive,” the buyer said, noting that other consumers and distributors of wire and wire rod had done the same thing.
Liberty idled operations at its Peoria plant in September 2024 and restarted operations in March 2025 after raising capital to resume operations.
BlackRock did not respond to a request for comment.
The industry source said the company expects to reach an output closer to its capacity of 700,000 tonnes of production a year over the next several months.
Liberty Steel declined to comment on either the lawsuit or its investment plans.
ArcelorMittal Long Products, based in Contrecoeur, Quebec, did not immediately respond to a query for comment.
Liberty Steel revealed its new investment plan July 29 in testimony before a meeting of the Peoria County Board in its bid to gain approval for a $2.65 million loan from the county and ultimately their approval if its relocation plan would bring an additional 700 full-time jobs to Peoria.
The company also said it is applying for a $25 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
The county was set to consider Liberty’s loan at its August 14 meeting but postponed the matter to January 2026.
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