Gupta steps up US investment programme

Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance has purchased Florida-based scrap business Export Metals through member company Liberty Recycling

The Tampa-based operation includes a deep-sea port and becomes the first part of what will be an extensive network of scrap collection and processing facilities designed to support Liberty’s planned steel manufacturing operations in the USA.

News of the acquisition follows Liberty’s completion of a deal to acquire the Georgetown steelworks in South Carolina where work is underway to recruit a workforce and prepare the shuttered plant for re-start in Q2 2018.

Liberty intends to build 'a major portfolio of metal manufacturing and downstream industrial assets' in the USA as part of its global expansion plans which already includes more than $3 billion on acquisitions in the UK, Australia and France.

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the GFG Alliance said: “Investing in US steel assets is part of our global strategy to produce steel locally, using domestic raw materials and green energy and selling largely into local markets," said Gupta.

Gupta believes that his 'greensteel' approach is the most sustainable model for the future of the steel industry in the US and across many parts of the world.