Signalling its new international partnership, GFG Alliance’s Liberty OneSteel Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia has transported its first-ever 24,000 tonne shipment of steel to Liberty Steel in Newport, South Wales.
A 24,000-tonne shipment of steel has been delivered from GFG Alliance’s Liberty OneSteel Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia to Liberty Steel in Newport, South Wales.The delivery marks a milestone in the development of GFG Alliance’s global integration strategy.
The first in what is set to be a series of shipments, the steel slab will enable the Liberty Steel Newport mill to begin ramping up production of hot rolled coil.
The shipment marks a milestone
in GFG Alliance’s global integration strategy
Liberty OneSteel’s Whyalla Steelworks will supply Liberty Steel Newport with around 100,000 tonnes of slab in the first year, allowing it to boost output of coil, initially by about a third, to meet growing UK and EU demand for steel from industries such as construction and heavy engineering.
Exports driving Australian production
Liberty OneSteel’s Whyalla Steelworks Executive General Manager, Theuns Victor, said the shipment was an exciting step as the plant worked towards increasing production to 1.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and beyond.
“This is the first element of our integration into the broader Liberty supply chain, demonstrating we’re now an integral part of a truly global business,” he said.
“These exports will ultimately enable us to increase production, in turn resulting in greater utilisation of the plant, which helps reduce our overall running costs.”
The shipment contributes to increasing production
at Liberty OneSteel Whyalla Steelworks to 1.2 mtpa
The linkage into the broader Liberty supply chain is at the heart of GFG Alliance’s focus on integrating and innovating to deliver value throughout the manufacturing process.
This week’s delivery, made to Liberty’s own wharf next to the Newport plant, was met at the dockside by the company’s Chief Executive of Rolled Products, VB Garg, who said: “This is a milestone in our development as a global business and shows how, by working together, steel businesses at opposite sides of the world can achieve strong mutual benefit. This shipment demonstrates that we are now part of a truly global enterprise.”
GFG Alliance Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta said: “This is just the first major example of the global integration to come. While each part of our Group will be competitive in its own right, the global organisation, which now employs over 12,500 people, will become stronger through strategic co-operation.
“We have exciting growth plans for both Newport and Whyalla, as well as our other steel plants worldwide, and collaboration like this will be a powerful impetus for that growth,” he added.
Since being acquired by GFG in August last year, Liberty OneSteel Whyalla has begun its own expansion plan aimed at boosting liquid steel and slab production to 2 million tonnes a year.
For footage of the first parcel of steel slabs being loaded for delivery to Liberty Steel Newport in Wales, click here.
