International industrial and metals group Liberty House has announced that its subsidiary Liberty Steel Newport in South Wales, UK, has started a planned £15 million investment in new and upgraded equipment as it continues a drive to win a bigger UK market share for hot rolled coil (HRC) used in industries such as construction, automotive and pipe manufacture.
According to the company’s statement, the 180-worker South Wales plant, re-opened by Liberty in 2015 following its closure by previous owners, will double coil production this year to nearly 370,000 mt and is targeting further growth in 2019, aiming to displace foreign imports that currently take around 50 percent of the domestic market.