Steel Mills

Liberty Steel Preparing Georgetown Mill for Startup

February 17, 2018

Liberty Steel, part of the GFG Alliance, will start recruiting workers for its recently acquired mill in Georgetown, S.C. The company hopes to restart production in the second quarter, following maintenance and upgrade of equipment and rampup of its electric arc furnace to full capacity as soon as feasible.

Over the remainder of 2018, Liberty Steel Georgetown (LSG) will focus on ensuring wire rod coils from its rolling mill are meeting customer specifications. During the restart phase, Liberty will be holding discussions with potential customers on their future requirements for qualities and coil weights. This will include a proposal to improve efficiency and reduce costs for customers through increasing coil weights by 20 to 25 percent.

Initially, LSG will concentrate on producing volumes of PC Strand-grade wire rod and deformed rebar in coil, both of which will supply the U.S. market for infrastructure steels. At the same time, Georgetown will be concentrating on regaining certifications and approvals the plant previously held with high-end customers.

Excess billet from Georgetown will be offered first to Liberty plants outside the U.S. and, if available, some will be sold into the domestic market.

Liberty acquired the plant from ArcelorMittal in December 2017. The Georgetown steelworks was a pivotal part of South Carolina’s industrial infrastructure for nearly 70 years until it was shuttered by previous owners in 2015.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty Steel and the GFG Alliance said: “We are very excited about restarting Georgetown to serve the American wire rod market. This will provide customers with a valuable new source of supply to support their businesses, as well as delivering high-quality employment opportunities for residents of the city and surrounding communities. We’re very encouraged by the number of inquiries we’ve had from prospective customers, so we’re eager to get back up and running at Georgetown as quickly as possible.”

“This is the first step in our wider investment program in the American steel industry, which will unfold over the coming months. Based on our sustainable GREENSTEEL model, we believe the industry has a bright future in the U.S.,” he added.