GFG Liberty Galati steel plant

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GFG Liberty Galati steel plant, also known as ArcelorMittal Galati SA, is a blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) steel plant operating in Galati, Galați County, Romania.

Location

The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Galati, Galați County, Romania:

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• Location: Liberty Galati 1, Calea Smirdan 800698 Galati, Romania
• Coordinates (WGS 84): 45.434119, 27.976244 (exact)

Background

Liberty Galati, previously owned by ArcelorMittal, was purchased by Liberty Steel in July 2019 along with six other steel plants including Liberty Ostrava.

History

Formation

Integrated production began in July 1968, when all the components needed for steel-making had been set up and the first batch of steel came out at steel mill #1. Activity grew at a consistent pace, and by 1972, there were over 50,000 employees in the entire works, including nearby industrial units.

Since 1989

The Communist regime fell in 1989, and in 1991, the works became a joint-stock company called Sidex Galați. This was acquired from the Romanian government in 2001 by a Mittal Steel Company subsidiary, and its debts were forgiven. When the latter took over Arcelor in 2006 to form ArcelorMittal, the plant took on the name ArcelorMittal Galați. The number of employees fell from 27,600 in 2001 to 8,700 in 2011, mainly through voluntary retirements coupled with significant bonuses. The privatization of the Galați yard was the first such successful endeavor in the Romanian steel industry, which fared especially well in 2006-2008, thanks to foreign and domestic demand for private infrastructure. However, it suffered a downturn with the onset of the late-2000s financial crisis, and output was 3.5 million tons a year by 2011.

In 2019, the unit was purchased by Liberty Steel, a subsidiary of the GFG Alliance.

Operations

Galați is Romania's largest steel works, and forms an important part of the city's economy. It is also the only one not to use electric arc furnaces, instead relying on iron ore and coal to produce a special type of steel that welds more easily and is thus suitable for making sheet metal. There are two processing plants; five furnaces, including two that run constantly; two steelworks, one of which always runs; three lines for constant casting; a hot rolling machine and a cold roll one; two sheet metal rollers; and a zinc plating line.

A 2011 study found that two-thirds of Galați residents either worked or used to work at the plant or related factories, or had an immediate family member do so. According to official records, output reached a maximum in 1988, with 8.2 million tons worth some $7.2 billion. By the early 1990s, the works had caused serious air, water and soil pollution in Galați. As of 2010, there were a number of waste disposal lakes behind the works, some containing cyanides, less than 2km away from the Danube.

Plant Details

Table 1: General Plant Details

Phase	Plant status	Announced date	Start date	Pre-retirement announcement date	Retired date	Workforce size	Power source
Main plant	Operating	–	1968	–	–	7000	–
Closure	Operating pre-retirement	–	–	2022-05	2030	–	–
Expansion	Announced	2020-06	2025	–	–	–	–
Expansion	Announced	2020-06	2025	–	–	–	Planned 180MW solar farm and 20MW wind farm

Table 2: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Phase	Parent company	Parent company PermID	Parent company GEM ID	Owner	Owner company PermID	Owner company GEM ID
Main plant	GFG Alliance Ltd [100.0%]	5057811578 [100%]	E100001000556 [100%]	Liberty Galati SA	4297372133	E100001010333

Table 3: Process and Products

Phase	Steel product category	Steel products	ISO 14001	ISO 50001	Main production equipment	Detailed production equipment
Main plant	semi-finished; finished rolled	coated products; cold rolled; galvanized; cold rolled	yes	2021	BF, BOF	3 sinter plants (2 in operation); 2 BOF; 1 coke oven
Closure	semi-finished; finished rolled	coated products; cold rolled; galvanized; cold rolled	–	–	BF, BOF	2 BOF
Expansion	semi-finished; finished rolled	coated products; cold rolled; galvanized; cold rolled	–	–	EAF	2 EAFs (2x160-tonne Consteel technology)
Expansion	semi-finished; finished rolled	coated products; cold rolled; galvanized; cold rolled	–	–	DRI, EAF	DRI plant and EAF (MI.DA Minimill)

Table 4: Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Phase	Capacity operating status*	Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity	Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity	Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
Main plant	operating	–	–	–
Closure	operating pre-retirement	3200 TTPA	–	3200 TTPA
Expansion	announced	–	3000 TTPA	3000 TTPA
Expansion	announced	–	1100 TTPA	1100 TTPA

Table 5: Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

*Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Phase	Capacity operating status*	Blast furnace capacity	Sponge iron/DRI capacity	Nominal iron capacity (total)
Main plant	operating	–	–	–
Closure	operating pre-retirement	2100 TTPA	–	2100 TTPA
Expansion	announced	–	–	–
Expansion	announced	–	2500 TTPA	2500 TTPA

Table 6: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Phase	Sinter
Main plant	>0 TTPA
Closure	–
Expansion	–
Expansion	–

Table 7: Actual Crude Steel Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year	BOF Production	Total (all routes)
2020	–	–
2021	2350 TTPA	2350 TTPA
2022	1630 TTPA	1630 TTPA

Table 8: Actual Crude Iron Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year	BF Production	Total (all routes)
2020	–	–
2021	2300 TTPA	2300 TTPA
2022	–	–

Blast Furnace Details

Table 9: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Announced date	Construction date	Start date	Retired date	Furnace manufacturer and model	Current size	Current capacity (ttpa)	Decarbonization technology	Most recent relining
5	operating pre-retirement	unknown	unknown	1978	2025	Paul Wurth (parts)	3100 m³	2100	Injects oxygen-enriched air to reduce carbon emissions methane gas use by 75%	2023-03

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Steel Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

Resources

• Company website
• Wikipedia