Liberty Steel committed to Clydebridge despite business slowing down
The owner of Clydebridge steel plant has reaffirmed its commitment to the site – as its biggest supplier goes into administration.
Liberty Steel, which owns the steel works in Cambuslang and Dalzell, insists the plants will be able to fulfil orders even if British Steel’s Scunthorpe site stops supplying the slab it needs.
Chiefs at the plant confirmed alternative arrangements had been made should Scunthorpe cease operations.
British Steel went into insolvency last week, putting around 4000 jobs at risk.
The announcement came as Liberty Steel said it was committed to growing operations at the Lanarkshire plants, whilst admitting business is slow.
A spokesman for the company said: “In common with other steel plants in the UK, Dalzell is feeling the pressure of a slower market at present.
“But the mill has made many improvements over the past year and is now better able to withstand such pressure. We’re hopeful things will pick up soon.
“We continue to use Clydebridge on a part-time basis as a finishing line for certain orders – using workers from Dalzell – but our aim is to have a full-time workforce there and ramp-up activity when market conditions are right.
“As already mentioned, we have alternative suppliers lined up for Dalzell’s slab if British Steel in Scunthorpe becomes unable to deliver, but deliveries are carrying on as usual for the moment.”
Many in the steel industry are blaming Brexit for a slow-down in business, arguing European buyers are reticent about buying UK steel because of uncertainty over the tariff and regulatory environment after Britain’s exit from the EU.
Liberty Steel purchased the Lanarkshire steel plants from Tata Steel, who mothballed the sites amidst a previous steel crisis in 2015.
The Scottish Government created the Scottish Steel Taskforce, paying some staff a retainer to remain available should a buyer for the plants be found.
It also reduced business rates and helped improve energy efficiency at Dalzell in a bid to make Scottish steel more attractive to potential investors.
Liberty House completed its takeover of the plants in April 2016.
It had promised its Greensteel vision, which sees renewable energy power rolling mills, would ensure a sustainable future for the plants.
The following year, it started using the technology at Clydebridge more frequently to create weathering steel, used for structures such as bridges, building facades and landmark pieces of public art.
But the company again scaled back operations in December 2017, calling for redundancies when a large contract fell through.
It currently has a workforce of 160.