Spain’s Network Steel unveils plans for new Leon site

Spanish steel group Network Steel expects to start work in February converting the former site of wind turbine maker, Vestas, in Leon, Spain into a 520,000 mt/year steel plant, a company spokesman told S&P Global Platts.

Network Steel will spend Eur130 million ($148 million) on refit work at the complex, which should run from February 2019 through December 2020 and would include two cold-rolled mills, two galvanized coil lines and a continuous pickling line, the spokesman said Thursday.

The investment is more than the Eur110 million initially anticipated by Spain’s Industry Ministry, while the conversion and eventual production should re-employ many of the current workers at the site, which was slated in October to be shuttered.

The company did not disclose how much it paid Vestas to purchase the site.

The new lines should complement Network Steel’s existing business, which includes a 100,000 mt/year plant in Burgos for painted coils and strips, a 120,000 mt/year pre-painted and pickling line.

The Ministry said it would support the conversion by ensuring improved transport infrastructure to service the site, including a rail connection to the country’s principal port, while there is also the possibility of public financing for the site conversion.

Gianluca Baratti