Liberty Dunaújváros (Dunaferr) management hosted Hungarian state secretary Gergely Fábián and Audi Hungaria chairman Alfons Dintner this week to hold initial discussions on future cooperation between the steelmaker and carmaker.
Dunaújváros highlighted its long-term track record in producing high-quality steel products for the international automotive industry and outlined its ambitious plans to produce “GREENSTEEL” over the next few years, a Liberty Steel spokesperson tells Kallanish. The delegates were given a tour of the Dunaújváros hot strip mill.
“We believe the LIBERTY Dunaújváros steel works can be at the heart of the automotive industry’s green revolution, which will see an even greater reduction in vehicle emissions. We look forward to continuing our discussions with Audi in the future,” says Liberty Steel Group European president Ajay Aggarwal.
Earlier this month, the Hungarian steelmaker said its rolling mills, including its hot-dip galvanised line, completed their first January campaign for specific customers, and were “on course” for their next campaign later this month (see Kallanish passim).
According to Hungarian press reports, the Dunaújváros rolling mills’ restart is the first step in its 100-day programme aimed at increasing capacity utilisation, improving efficiency and preparing for an expected market demand recovery.
According to sources, the remaining working blast furnace at Dunaújváros remains idled.
Last summer, Liberty and China’s CISDI Engineering Co. signed an agreement with the Hungarian Ministry of Economic Development to develop a decarbonisation pathway shifting Dunaferr from coal-based steelmaking to EAF technology. This will see the installation of a new 150-tonne capacity EAF to be supplied by CISDI.
Adam Smith Poland
