Another production line has been launched at Liberty in Ostrava; the flat products rolling mill is now up and running

Another production line has been launched at the Liberty steelworks in Ostrava. After more than a year, staff at the flat products rolling mill have returned to work, where they are once again producing steel sheets. This time, however, they are using imported slabs – steel semi-finished products intended for further processing.

“This represents the achievement of another significant milestone for us. Flat products such as coils, sheets and steel strips are returning to Liberty’s portfolio; these are the steelworks’ traditional products, which we are now reintroducing to the market,” commented Tomáš Mischinger, Director of Vítkovice Machinery Trade, part of the CE Industries group, on the resumption of production.

“We will also use some of the coils in our own production of crash barriers and pipes, which will also bring us cost savings,” added Tomáš Mischinger.

According to Michal Štefl, spokesperson for the insolvency administrator, the restart of the rolling mill is crucial. “It will help us preserve the company’s value until the point of sale. It is always more advantageous to sell an operational plant than one that is not producing. We are slowly managing to increase production volumes; the current plan is for 46,000 tonnes a month, and by June we would like to reach 70,000 tonnes.”

Unlike in the past, when Liberty produced using its own raw materials, production now relies solely on imported materials following the shutdown of the blast furnaces and steelworks. “It’s difficult to secure contracts. Everyone mainly produces for themselves; it’s mainly excess capacity that’s sold,” explained Ivo Chmelík, project director at Liberty Vítkovice Machinery Trade.

According to Chmelík, production is now secured until April, with current capacity standing at around 45,000 tonnes per month. In total, the tolling project affects more than 2,000 people – Liberty currently employs around 2,400 staff.