The British GFG Alliance has announced the purchase of Florida-based scrap business Export Metals by GFG member company, Liberty Recycling.

This the latest step in GFG’s programme to build a major stake in the American metals and industrials sector.

The operation at Tampa, includes a deep-sea port and becomes the first part of what will be an extensive network of scrap collection and processing facilities designed to support Liberty’s planned steel manufacturing operations in the USA.

News of the Florida acquisition follows closely upon Liberty’s completion of a deal to acquire the Georgetown steelworks in South Carolina and work is now underway there to recruit a workforce and prepare the shuttered plant for re-start in the second quarter of the year.

Liberty has declared its intention to build a major portfolio of metal manufacturing and downstream industrial assets in America as the latest phase in a global expansion which has already seen the group commit more than $3 billion to acquisitions in the UK, Australia and France.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the GFG Alliance said: “Investing in US steel assets is part of our global strategy to produce steel locally, using domestic raw materials and green energy and selling largely into local markets. We believe this GREENSTEEL approach is the most sustainable model for the future of the steel industry in the US and across many parts of the world.”