Liberty Magona unions push for sale

Trade unions at Liberty Steel’s Italian coil re-rolling facility, La Magona, are asking for an urgent intervention from the economic development ministry after ArcelorMittal cut the company’s hot rolled coil supply.

“The supply cut will paralyse the plant and, at this point, the only way out is its sale,” a source close to the company tells Kallanish. ArcelorMittal is said to have cut Magona’s supply after Liberty’s Liege plant failed to pay the supplier for HRC.

In April La Magona had a significant profit of over €3.7 million ($4.5m). The situation is similar in May, with order books full. “The priority today is to save the plant from shutting down,” the source says. Unions are asking the government to implement the plan for a “steel district” in Piombino, which would relaunch La Magona and the troubled Piombino JSW steelworks, to create a liquid steel to coil production chain.

They are urging the government to accelerate La Magona’s sale to a financially strong buyer able to provide raw material and prevent the loss of customers to competitors.

While Liberty Steel is trying to sell its steel plants in France and the UK, La Magona is starting to slow production with a view to idling from mid-June (see Kallanish passim).

Natalia Capra France