Liberty Steel secures Liege loan to allow sale

Belgium's Walloon government is making a loan to Liberty Steel to enable the company to continue operating its Liege-Dudelange business while a buyer is found, according to vice-president of the government Willy Borsus.

The loan is subject to the organisation of a sale procedure, but the government will not reveal the sum involved.

"The objective of the region is to be able to examine all avenues to enable one or more buyers to come forward, on the basis of a credible industrial project, to propose a resumption of LLD [Liberty Liege-Dudelange] activities," Borsus told Argus.

Walloon region investment firm Sogepa will extend the loan, which is subject to "strict conditions" including the organisation of a sale.

The government is also in talks with Luxembourg regarding the Dudelange plant.

When Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal initially announced that it would sell the assets as part of its bid to buy the Ilva business in Italy, other buyers, including German producer Salzgitter, expressed interest.

Market participants have been told that the Liege facilities will be split into two corporate entities, with the two hot-dip galvanised (HDG) lines at Flemalle becoming one entity, and the Tilleur packaging, pickling and cold-rolled lines put into another. Flemalle has HDG capacity of 950,000 t/yr.

Liberty Liege-Dudelange has been in judicial reorganisation since 11 May.

"While Liberty Liege remains in the PRJ process, its management team and a mediator continue to work collaboratively with stakeholders to identify new sources of financing to sustain the company's activities. We will not comment further on that process until it is complete", a company spokesperson said.

By Colin Richardson