Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Liberty Steel’s Rotherham plant set to restart amid soaring energy prices

Liberty Steel’s Rotherham plant set to restart amid soaring energy prices

LIBERTY Steel UK is set to resume its operations at its Rotherham plant later this month as GFG Alliance is infusing £50 million into it.

The fresh capital injection into the steel company through the group’s new entity Liberty Capital comes amid soaring energy prices, which manufacturers fear, could force a shutdown of industries.


GFG’s executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said the funding will allow time to prove the plant’s operations can run efficiently which “will enable us to finalise longer debt restructuring”.

A resumption of operations at the green steel plant will pave the way for the return of its hundreds of workers who have been on furlough since the spring when the facility was shut.

AFG said in a statement on Sunday (10) that the production ramp-up “will commence in October 2021 with a plan to reach 50,000 tons per month as soon as possible”.

GFG, which ran into serious financial difficulties after the collapse of its main lender Greensill Capital in March, also announced a deal with Credit Suisse Asset Management to restructure the debts of Liberty’s Australian unit.

Liberty Primary Metals Australia (LPMA) comprises integrated mining and primary steel businesses at Whyalla and its coking coal mine at Tahmoor.

GFG claimed the deal will provide a stable financial platform for its Australian business and “secures a recovery plan for creditors.”

While the improved business will enable it to make “a substantial” upfront payment to Greensill Bank and Credit Suisse, the balance will be paid in instalments “through the amended maturity date of June 2023”, it said.

Although steel prices are near the all-time high, manufactures are hit hard by firm energy prices.

Wholesale gas prices have increased 400 per cent this year in Europe, partly due to low stocks and strong demand from Asia, putting particular pressure on energy-intensive industries.

In Britain, secretary of state for business Kwasi Kwarteng submitted a formal bid to the treasury for assistance to help industries affected by high energy prices, the BBC reported on Monday (11).

The move came on the back of Kwarteng's reported statement last month that the high gas prices were a blip and that the weather would soon change, helping wind turbines generate more power.

The UK’s steel industry lobby warned on Monday (11) that an impending crisis due to soaring wholesale energy prices could force plants into expensive shutdowns and sow chaos through supply chains.

A shortage of natural gas in Europe had sent prices for electricity and gas soaring, triggering sharp rises in the prices paid by people heating their homes or for major heavy industrial plants smelting steel.

"These extraordinary electricity prices are leading to smaller or wiped-out profits and thus to less reinvestment," UK Steel, which lobbies on behalf of the British steel industry, said in a briefing document.

UK Steel said some plants may have to shutter their production "for increasingly extended periods with the consequences not only for individual companies but also UK steel supply to the UK economy and UK jobs."

More For You

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less