Plans to list Sanjeev’s Gupta’s Australian assets on the ASX discarded in favour of global reach
Sanjeev Gupta has revealed plans for a huge steel conglomerate which he wants to be carbon neutral by 2030.
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Sanjeev Gupta has abandoned plans to list his Australian steel assets on the stock market and will instead roll them into a global conglomerate employing 30,000 people.
The company, Liberty Steel Group, to be created by the end of the year, will also aim to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Mr Gupta’s company GFG Alliance bought the assets of failed ASX-listed company Arrium, including the Whyalla steelworks, in late 2017 for a rumoured $700 million.
The company was reported to be considering a share market listing and a name change to Infrabuild, however the plans were recently abandoned amid a soft market for initial public offers.
Liberty announced company announced yesterday that it now intended to create a single global entity, with 18 million tonnes of rolled steel capacity across 10 countries.
“Liberty Steel Group will be the eighth largest steel producer outside China, with operations stretching from Australia to continental Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, and it will have annual sales of approximately $US15 billion,’’ the company said.
“Although individual businesses will retain a high degree of autonomy, consolidated accounts will be produced and a united strategy will be developed.’’
Liberty said it aimed to be the first carbon neutral steelmaker in the world, based on its Greensteel strategy which would include using hydrogen as a fuel.
“The Greensteel strategy focuses on using electric arc furnaces to recycle scrap steel, rather than producing all material from scratch, as well as using renewable sources of energy,’’ the company said.
At Whyalla the company has committed to building a solar farm comprised of 780,000 panels, generating enough power for 100,000 homes, as part of an overall $US1 billion, one gigawatt energy plan.
Mr Gupta told The Advertiser in August the project should break ground within weeks and be in a position to generate power by the end of next year or early the following year.
As well as upgrading the existing Whyalla steelworks, Liberty is also expecting to finish a feasibility study this year on whether a huge, 10 million tonne plant is viable at Whyalla.
“We are creating a new force in steel with the size, scale and agility to forge a path towards a sustainable future for our steel businesses and the communities in which we operate,’’ Mr Gupta said in a statement.
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“Our integrated group will stretch around the world, with a financial and governance structure suitable for an intercontinental business of our size.’’
Liberty Steel Group will include operations drawn from Liberty House in the UK, Liberty Steel Continental Europe, Liberty Steel USA, Infrabuild and Liberty Primary Steel and Mining Australia.
“The group’s strategy will encompass a balanced model, rather than a silver bullet – including transitioning our existing blast furnaces towards electric arc furnaces, investing in new electric arc furnaces and piloting new clean technologies around the world,,’ the company said.
Adelaide-based SIMEC Energy will not be part of the new consolidated business.