New wave of cutbacks at Liberty Steel. A total of 440 jobs are at risk as the firm plans to suspend its site at West Bromwich in the West Midlands, and stop producing steel at its plant in Newport, South Wales. Meanwhile, the industry struggles with high energy costs and struggles to compete with foreign rivals.
Operations in Rotherham, South Yorks, will be scaled back as the company focuses on high-value alloy steel production at Speciality Steel UK’s sites in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth.” Specifically, up to 185 seats could go in Rotherham, 121 in Newport, 99 in West Bromwich and 35 in Tredegar, South Wales.
Liberty’s chief transformation officer, Jeffrey Kabel, noted, “Refocusing our operations will establish the right platform for Liberty Steel UK’s high-quality manufacturing businesses to quickly adapt to challenging market realities.
“We remain committed to our long-term growth plans in the UK, including our plan to develop Rotherham into a two million tonne green steel hub.
The company announced that plants at West Bromwich, Newport and Tredegar would be idled, while production at Rotherham would be curtailed amid rising energy costs, although it is confident it will restart production when market and operating conditions permit.
