Italian re-roller Liberty Magona restarts pickling line

Italy’s Liberty Magona steel mill restarted its pickling line and completed the refurbishment of organic coated line No. 1, the re-roller said July 21.

Liberty restarted the pickling line at the La Magona plant in Tuscany in February, but due to the coronavirus pandemic had to halt operations again.

The refurbishment of the organic coated line was planned following the mill’s purchase in 2019.

The company’s Eur10 million ($11.28 million) investment is set to lead to a 40% increase in production capacity across the plant and a 20% increase in employment at the site, with 81 additional staff joining the business.

The pickling line now has a design capacity of 870,000 mt/year. It was originally shut in 2012.

The organic coated line has a design capacity of 100,000 mt a year and was idled in 2009.

The site will now have total two coated lines. The mill produced 170,000 mt of pre-painted coils in 2019.

“I’m delighted to celebrate the first steps in our transformation plan for Liberty Magona just 12 months after we acquired the business,” Sanjeev Gupta, Executive Chairman of Liberty Steel Group and GFG Alliance, said.

Liberty bought the La Magona facility together with other mills controlled by ArcelorMittal following the latter’s acquisition of Italian steelmaker Ilva. The other mills are located in Ostrava in the Czech Republic, Galati in Romania, Skopje in Macedonia and Dudelange in Luxembourg.

— Annalisa Villa