LIBERTY Steel’s Newport mill continues to make significant progress, achieving its best financial results for the first quarter, with the outlook for the second quarter looking even stronger. The business improved profitability last year despite challenging market conditions caused by Covid-19.

LIBERTY Steel Newport, which this month welcomed MPs who are members of the UK Parliament Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee to site, manufactures hot rolled coil (HRC) for use in the UK manufacturing and construction sectors.

Strong sales along with a much-improved operational performance have put the business on a profitable footing. LIBERTY Steel invested just over £2 million last year in modernising the Newport plant and this has continued with £1.1 million spent in the first three months of this year. Investments include new gas furnace software and controls to lower gas consumption and reduce the plant’s carbon footprint.

The improved profitability also coincides with significant health & safety improvements under the stewardship of LIBERTY’s site management. New health and safety protocols mean the plant has now gone over 16 months without a Lost Time Accident, reflecting the importance GFG Alliance’s businesses place on keeping their workers safe.

LIBERTY Steel Newport’s Managing Director, Michael Perry, said: “These achievements are testament to the hard work of all our workforce in recent years, particularly the last 18 months given the challenges posed by the pandemic. I’m particularly proud of the strides that we have made in making the site a safer place to work, along with offering much improved pay and welfare facilities as our workforce is our biggest asset in the business”.

“Demand for our product is strong with the construction sector bouncing back from the impact of Covid-19 and we’re looking forward to setting more production and sales records over the coming months. It’s a great team here going from strength to strength.”

Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East, said: “I commend everyone at Liberty Steel in Newport on such a strong performance during challenging times. This is a real testament to the great local management at the site and the dedication of the skilled and experienced workforce. The steel sector in Newport East is an asset to the regional economy and our community, and this will continue to be the case as the country looks to recover from the effects of the pandemic.”

LIBERTY Steel’s parent group GFG Alliance acquired the mothballed Newport mill, its first industrial acquisition, in 2013 and took the decision to pay employees half of their salaries while market conditions improved before reopening the site in October 2015.

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Note to Editors
LIBERTY Steel Group, part of the GFG Alliance and a leading GREENSTEEL producer, is a global integrated steel business bringing together assets across the steel supply chain, from production of liquid steel from raw and recycled materials through to high value precision engineered steels. With a total rolling capacity of 20 million tonnes, 200+ manufacturing locations globally across 10 countries and employing more than 30,000 people, LIBERTY Steel’s furnaces, mills, services centres and distribution sites across the UK, continental Europe, Australia, the United States and China serve demanding sectors such as construction, energy, aerospace, automotive, and infrastructure. LIBERTY Steel is a leader in sustainable industry with a mission to become Carbon Neutral by 2030 (CN30).