Trasteel seeking to acquire Liberty’s Magona facility
Liberty Steel’s Magona facility in Italy is expected to be acquired by Swiss-based Trasteel, according to sources close to the matter.
Trasteel chief executive Gianfranco Imperato says that a sale agreement is likely to be signed shortly, with completion expected within 90 days of signing, according to Italian daily Il Secolo XIX.
Trasteel currently employs around 1,500 people and generates annual turnover of €1.7 billion ($1.98 billion). If the acquisition goes ahead, group turnover is projected to rise to approximately €2.2 billion.
Imperato also indicates that the company plans to invest around €100 million in the facility.
An informed source tells Kallanish that the unions have been informally told by the government that a meeting in Rome is expected to be convened on 17 February and a sale agreement is expected to be signed on that date. According to a union source, Trasteel plans to begin operations before the formal closing, potentially by leasing the facility for the period required to complete the transaction. To restart production, the new owner will need to secure hot rolled coil supply, a process that could take at least 60 days.
Magona has an annual capacity of around 650,000 tonnes, supported by two coating lines and one galvanizing line. Two additional re-rolling lines have been idle for several years.
It is believed that the plant is operating at sharply reduced rates, running fewer than 10 shifts per week out of 21 due to issues accessing HRC supply.
Liberty Steel declined to comment when approached by Kallanish while Trasteel was unavailable before the press deadline.
Trasteel becomes a member of EUROMETAL
Trasteel Group is a diversified industrial and trading platform headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, with operations across more than 60 countries. The company combines global steel and metals trading with a network of industrial assets, processing facilities, and engineering subsidiaries across Europe and Asia.
Trasteel will generate $1.7B revenue in 2025 ($1.5B in 2024), split evenly between trading and industrial activities. The trading division focuses on steel, raw materials, consumables, metallics, non-ferrous metals, derivatives and energy, with a strategy built on geographic, time, and the technical arbitrage opportunities.
The industrial division includes Europe’s fourth-largest rerolling mill (370k tons capacity), tube plants with 400k tons of annual production, automotive blanking facilities, and rebar service centers in Poland and Romania. Engineering subsidiaries in Italy and Turkey extend the Group’s capabilities into machinery manufacturing, maintenance, and mechanical services.
More information: trasteel.com
Made in Steel: Italian flats market between difficulties and signs of recovery
At Made in Steel 2025 held at Fiera Milano Rho, Italy, a roundtable was convened to discuss the current state and future outlook of the Italian and European markets for flat steel products. The discussion offered a clear-eyed, realistic, and at times moderately optimistic analysis, featuring insights from leading industry figures.
Andrea Gabrielli, chairman and CEO of Gabrielli Group, opened the panel by outlining a challenging start to the year, commenting, “2024 closed with an eight percent decline in flat product sales, bringing us back to levels even lower than the pre-COVID period,” adding, “The first months of 2025 have shown a slight recovery, but a 3-4 percent drop still persists.” He also pointed out the growing difficulties in procurement due to changes in EU safeguard clauses and provisional antidumping duties on imported HRC, which are significantly limiting import opportunities from third countries.
The perspective on welded pipe products was provided by Pierluigi Pegorari, CEO of Arvedi Tubi Acciaio, who described an apparent stability in volumes, but increasing pressure from market distortions. “Phenomena such as stockpiling are disrupting the entire distribution system,” he explained. “For us, the priority is not growth but consolidation in the downstream segment, focusing on special steels,” he said.
Gianfranco Imperato, CEO of Trasteel, offered an overview of slabs and plate products, acknowledging a difficult 2024 but also highlighting early signs of stabilization. “After a 6-7 percent drop in consumption across Europe, we are now seeing a slight realignment in margins thanks to reduced supply and a rebound in prices,” he noted.
Looking ahead, the speakers agreed on the need to tackle uncertainty with flexibility and a strategic vision. “The European manufacturing sector has lost competitiveness. We need to pay close attention to key industries like home appliances and automotive,” Gabrielli observed. Pegorari stressed the urgency of structural interventions, particularly to support energy and infrastructure.
Imperato concluded with a message of cautious optimism, stating, “The order book looks solid, but the market remains cautious. That said, the history of steel suggests that after every downturn a recovery inevitably follows.”
