Breaking: 440 Liberty Steel jobs at risk — including 185 in Rotherham

MP Sarah Champion said she was “sickened and beyond angry” — laying the blame with a “decade of failure” from the government to support the industry.

She added: “It is not just 185 jobs, it is 185 families, the businesses in the supply chain and the economic identity of our town.

“Rotherham steelworkers have been abandoned to their fate by a government that has never understood the importance of our steel industry or made any effort to develop its enormous potential.

“There are simple steps the government could have taken to prevent this; buy British steel for government projects, provide competitive energy costs and address punitive business rates. 

“Europe supports its steel industry... why won’t this government?”

The firm’s UK arm will focus on high value alloy steel production at its “speciality steel” sites in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Brinsworth, which serve aerospace, energy and engineering supply chains. 

The sale process for the Stocksbridge and Brinsworth plants has been halted.

But there will be a reduction in primary production at Rotherham — replaced by imported billet and slabs to feed rolling and finishing lines at Rotherham, Scunthorpe and Dalzell near Motherwell.

Liberty said this would be “an interim measure” to mitigate the impact of “uncompetitive energy costs.”

Production facilities at Newport and West Bromwich will be left idle, with the latter turned into a sales and distribution hub.

A Liberty spokesperson said: “Despite the injection of £200 million of shareholder capital over the last two years, the production of some commodity grade products at Rotherham and downstream mills has become

unviable in the short term due to high energy costs and imports from countries without the same environmental standards. 

“Primary production through Rotherham’s lower carbon electric arc furnaces will be temporarily reduced while uncompetitive operating conditions prevail.

“These actions, together with the idling of Liberty Performance Steels in West Bromwich and the reconfiguration of Liberty Steel Newport into a storage, distribution and trading hub, may potentially impact up to 440 roles across the business. 

“The company will consult with employee representatives, Trade Unions and UK Government throughout the process.”

The firm said it was committed to restarting commodity production when the market and operating conditions improve.

It retains the long-term aim of building up Rotherham into a two million tonnes-per-year “green steel” facility.

And it says today’s announcement will safeguard Liberty’s wider workforce of 1,900 permanent employees, plus contractors.

But Jonathan Reynolds MP, Labour’s business secretary, said: “This is devastating news for Liberty steelworkers, their families and the community built around this proud industry. 

“Labour wants to see a thriving domestic steel sector that is why we will partner with industry, investing in green steel over the next decade to keep jobs in the UK for generations to come. 

“Endless sticking plasters from the Conservatives have left our UK steel sector on the brink. 

“Instead of finding a long-term solution, successive Conservative governments have lurched from crisis and bailouts with no plan to keep UK steel internationally competitive or deliver a return on taxpayers investment.”

Liberty’s chief transformation officer Jeffrey Kabel said: “Refocusing our operations will set the right platform for Liberty Steel UK’s high-quality manufacturing businesses to adapt quickly to challenging market realities. 

“The support of our marquee customers will enable us to produce high value, differentiated products through 2023 and beyond for strategic sectors such as aerospace, defence and energy. 

“We remain committed to our longer-term growth plans in the UK including our plan to grow Rotherham into a two million tonne green steel hub.”