The first positive news in months
comes from Liberty Steel, buying the assets of Dunaferr,
a major player in Hungarian heavy industry and the region’s largest employer.
Thanks to an agreement in principle, it looks like that Liberty Steel will be
able to finance the long-awaited modernization of the ironworks with a Chinese
gigabank loan.
China
Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure)
have reached an agreement in principle to guarantee a loan of EUR 1.3 billion,
the British-Indian company that owns the Dunaújváros (central Hungary)
ironworks told Világgazdaság.
The agreement in
principle will facilitate the acquisition of additional grants and guarantees
to finalize the capital structure of the investment.
With the
commissioning of the new facility, the increasingly obsolete coal-based steel
production methods will be replaced by the latest sustainable steel production
technology. It is promised that the two new 150 ton capacity electric arc
furnaces (EAFs), together with the upgraded secondary metallurgical plant, will
be able to recycle steel scrap and directly reuse reduction iron pellets.
The EUR 1.3
billion investment package includes the modernization of the existing hot
rolling mill and galvanizing line, as well as the installation of new
production lines to serve the Hungarian manufacturing bases for defense and
automotive production.
The
announcement is said to coincide with a visit by Sinosure representatives to
Liberty Dunaújváros. The Chinese company will continue the technical and
feasibility studies already underway before finalizing the manufacturing specifications
for the new ultra-modern steel plant, which will be suitable for green steel
production.
Thomas
Gangl, CEO of Liberty Steel Europe, said: “We have reached an important
milestone that will lay the foundation for Liberty’s Dunaújváros mill to become
a modern green steel plant at the forefront of sustainable steel production
technologies.”
Gergely
Fábián, State Secretary for Industrial Policy and Technology, noted: “I am
constantly following the progress of the green steel project, the result of the
coordinated efforts of the Liberty team and other experts involved in its
implementation. This attention is justified by the strategic importance of the
project for the national economy.”
