UK steel mill may reopen

An electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill in southern England that has not produced new steel since 2011 may be reopened in 2017 by the Liberty House investors group.

According to an online article by the BBC, Liberty House has announced plans to reopen the rolling mills at the former Thamesteel plant on the Isle of Sheppey at the mouth of the Thames River.

Although it is unclear whether scrap-fed EAF hot steelmaking will take place at the location, the Financial Times reports tat Liberty House “also hopes to reinstall a dismantled electric arc furnace, which once operated at Sheerness and makes steel by melting down scrap.” That installation could be at Sheerness or at another site.

The company says it plans to produce steel bar and rod products at the mill, including operating its rolling mills. Although some 400 people worked at the steelmaking complex when it was idled in late 2011, Liberty House projects employing 60 to 100 workers.

The EAF melt shop and rolling mill was built by Canada-based Co-Steel and came online in 1972. When it was idled in 2011 and went into receivership in early 2012, it was owned by the Al-Tuwairqi group of Saudi Arabia.

Liberty House has been investing in steelmaking and downstream steel fabrication assets in the United Kingdom for the past two years. It also announced earlier in October 2016 the creation of Liberty Metal Recycling, a scrap metals processing subsidiary.