More than 400 jobs have been put at risk at Liberty Steel as part of a major restructuring plan amid soaring energy costs. The company, which has said it will idle its manufacturing operations in Newport and Tredegar, said "major competitiveness issues" had led to its decision and will impact 440 roles across the firm.
Liberty, which is part of Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance conglomerate, said on Thursday that it would cut production and make some of its smaller sites idle. The sweeping restructure including converting the Newport site, where it has a hot-rolled coil mill, into a storage "distribution and trading hub". It's plant in Tredegar, where it produces tubes and cold-formed sections, will also be idled. A total of 444 jobs at risk.
The Mirror reported that up to 185 posts could go at Rotherham, 121 at Newport, 99 at West Bromwich and 35 in Tredegar. The company blamed "unviable" market conditions including high energy costs and the impact of cheaper imports for its decision which it said would help it focus on its “high value alloy steel production” at Rotherham, Stockbridge and Brinsworth in Yorkshire.
