wiredinUSA February 2020

Image: Liberty Steel Group

New life for steel mill in prospect

A Louisiana steel mill that shut down last September is likely to be revived by the Liberty Steel Group. Liberty Steel has made a $28 million cash offer which, the company says, has made it the preferred buyer for the mill. Liberty was expecting to close the deal at the end of January, with plans to upgrade and modernize the LaPlace mill which, it believes, could be recycling before the end of 2020 and making steel by 2021. The group already owns steel operations in Illinois, Ohio, New Mexico and South Carolina.

“While the plant requires upgrades to be restarted competitively, we see good potential for the business,” said GFG’s executive chairman, Sanjeev Gupta, adding that the steel mill, formerly belonging to Bayou Steel Group “benefits from reliable access to supplies of recycled steel, competitive power prices, and its own deep-water port.” The mill should eventually bring the group’s total US production capacity to 3 million tons a year, said Grant Quasha, GFG Alliance’s chief investment officer for North America. He said the group’s US goal is for an annual 5 million tons of steel.

Liberty Steel Group is part of the GFG Alliance, headquartered in London.

23

wiredInUSA - February 2020