The Ostrava steelworks in the Czech Republic, previously owned by Liberty Steel, has been acquired for 3 .01 billion Czech koruna ($142.5 million) by a consortium of local companies, Fastmarkets understands.
The offer from SPV NH Ostrava and SPV NH Koksovna – which is owned by former minister of the interior of the Czech Republic, Martin Pecina – is for the steelmaking and coking assets at Ostrava and has been approved by the creditors’ committee, according to local media reports.
But the transaction still has to be approved by the insolvency court, the Czech antitrust authority and the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), Fastmarkets understands.
The Ostrava steelworks was declared insolvent in June 2024 but, if approved, the acquisition is expected to be complete in autumn 2025 and sources said there were no other parties interested in purchasing the Ostrava assets.
The Ostrava steelworks has four blast-furnaces with a combined capacity of more than 4 million tonnes per year, although the last operational blast furnace was idled in October 2023.
The plant is able to produce hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, steel sections and wire rod, and sources told Fastmarkets that, after the hot-end closure, Liberty was still operating the plant as an “on and off” reroller, using imported slab.
Other Liberty assets in Europe
Most of Liberty Steel’s insolvent steelmaking assets in Europe, meanwhile, now face permanent closure due to a lack of potential investors, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 22.
Liberty acquired a number of its European steel assets, including the purchase of Liege-Dudelange from ArcelorMittal, in 2019, but almost all those acquisitions have faced insolvency or closure in recent years.
Liberty’s Liège-Dudelange operation in the Benelux region, comprised three production sites – at Flémalle and Tilleur in Belgium and at Dudelange in Luxembourg – with each producing cold-rolled coil, hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) and tinplate.
Liberty Flémalle had a capacity of about 1 million tpy of HDG, while Tilleur produced around 200,000 tonnes of CRC and tinplate. And the Dudelange site in Luxembourg produced around 1 million tpy of galvanized products.
Sources told Fastmarkets that Liberty Steel’s plant at Dudelange employed around 185 workers, but added that it was “highly dependent” on feedstock supplies from the Liege operations.
And, in December 2024, the Dudelange plant was declared insolvent and a receiver appointed, while the Belgian assets also entered a process of liquidation.
Liberty Steel’s attempts to organize a reacquisition faltered. Then, in February this year, Turkey’s Tosyali Steel submitted an offer for the potential acquisition of the Dudelange plant, but Fastmarkets understands the deal did not progress beyond that stage.
However, part of the Liege operation was “lucky enough” to find an investor earlier this month, when ArcelorMittal confirmed the takeover of Liberty’s Flémalle facilities, including the HDG line, some “CEPI” repair lines and a water treatment plant.
“The galvanizing line in Flémalle will allow us to expand our ability to manufacture a high added-value product for our automotive and construction customers across Europe, ArcelorMittal Belgium chief executive officer Frederik Van De Velde said on July 10.
“We look forward to working with the skilled team at Flémalle and to restoring the plant to operating at a world-class level,” he added.
The final steps to complete the acquisition are expected to be completed shortly and ArcelorMittal Belgium expects to start operating the galvanizing line in 2026, following about nine months of maintenance work alongside any other investment projects required to restore the line.
Another Liberty asset – the Galati steelworks in Romania – recently restarted one blast furnace, but was faced with technical setbacks just days after the restart.
Former Liberty steel plate producer, Huta Czestochowa in Poland, was declared bankrupt in October 2024, but the Polish Ministry of Defense is understood to be planning to buy the assets.
Fastmarkets’ reached out to Liberty Steel for comment, but had not received a response at the time of publication.
