Liberty Steel poised to move forward on EAF in Hungary

The European Commission has approved the acquisition for sole control of Hungary-based steelmakers ISD Dunaferr and ISD Kokszoló by the Liberty Steel business unit of the United Kingdom-based GFG Alliance.

The early-October approval announcement follows Liberty Steel's announcement of nearly two weeks ago that it plans to undertake a conversion at the Dunaferr complex in Dunaújváros, Hungary, from blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BOF) production to recycled metal-friendly electric arc furnace (EAF) technology.

In that announcement, Liberty named China-based China’s CISDI Engineering Co. and the Hungarian Ministry of Economic Development as collaborators on the project.

The conversion plans are subject to EU regulatory approval. Should the project move forward, it will entail the installation of a 150-ton EAF capacity to be supplied by CISDI. “The state-of-the-art furnace carries the latest in energy-efficient technology and allows for flexibility in charge materials,” Liberty says.

“We’re transitioning to lower carbon technologies at speed across our global operations, and we intend to do the same at Dunaferr,” says Sanjeev Gupta, executive chair at Liberty. “We look forward to developing these plans with CISDI and the Ministry of Economic Development to ensure we put the Dunaújváros steelworks on a sustainable, competitive pathway as quickly as possible.”

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the three organizations indicates Liberty and CISDI will bear the primary responsibility for the technical aspects of the project, including design, engineering, procurement of equipment and technology services.

The Hungarian Ministry for Economic Development, meanwhile, will explore how it can support the project, including facilitation of administrative processes.

“We are witnessing the signing of an agreement that will lay the foundation for green steel production in Dunaújváros, which is the future of the steel industry,” says Márton Nagy, Hungary’s minister of economic development.

“For implementation of the EAF project, we will, as always, fully exert our professionalism to achieve high-quality delivery [and] spare no effort to provide all our technical support for the Liberty Group to achieve production of green steel and be carbon neutral in Europe," says Xiao Xuewen, chairman of CISDI Engineering.