Liberty finalises purchase of Polish plate mill

Liberty Steel finalised its purchase of Polish plate mill Huta Czestochowa today, making the last payment of 171mn zlotys ($46.4mn), according to a note from bankruptcy trustee Mateusz Bienioszek obtained by Argus Media.

Liberty had already paid 19mn zlotys to lease the plant and finalised the balance of the 190mn zlotys sale price today, signing the final contract in Warsaw. Liberty had until Sunday 30 May to close the transaction.

"Despite many unforeseen and unfavourable circumstances that have occurred over the past two years, I am glad that thanks to the commitment and determination of Liberty Czestochowa sp.z o.o. this transaction was successfully finalised," Bienioszek said in the note.

Liberty restarted the plant's 700,000 t/yr electric arc furnace in January and had previously fed the 1.2mn t/yr plate mill with slab from its own steelworks.

When it acquired the lease for the site, Liberty said Huta Cestochowa would benefit from synergies due to its proximity to its existing assets, particularly Liberty Ostrava.

The transaction comes at a difficult time for Liberty, after the collapse of its main lender Greensill caused working capital issues. It recently announced it would sell its Stocksbridge speciality steel business and the associated downstream plants, as well as some other smaller UK businesses, as part of its restructuring.

The company's Liege re-rolling mill in Belgium is under creditor protection and the Dudelange line is asking customers to supply hot-rolled coil because of a lack of substrate. A Japanese trader has financed a deal for Indian HRC for Liege, allowing it to keep processing, albeit at reduced rates. Some customers are buying the HRC from the trader, while others are paying Liberty directly.

Liberty will also stop its Magona mill in Italy as it lacks substrate, as first reported by Argus.

By Colin Richardson