GFG Liberty Galati steel plant

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GFG Liberty Galati steel plant, also known as ArcelorMittal Galati SA, is a steel plant in Galati, Galați County, Romania that operates blast furnace (BF), basic oxygen furnace (BOF), electric arc furnace (EAF), and direct reduced iron (DRI) technology.

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.

Low-emissions/green steelmaking

This steel plant is associated with a green steel project tracked in the Green Steel Tracker. Details about the project are included below.

Table 1: Green Steel Project Details

All references for the above data are available in the Green Steel Tracker.

	Project 1
Project name	Not available
Company	Liberty Steel Group
Company has climate goals?	Yes
Location	Galati, Romania
Project website	Not available
Project scale	R&D partnership
Project status	Announced
Year to be online	2024
Technology to be used	NG-DRI to H-DRI
Technology details	DRI plant initially powered by natural gas, but using hydrogenlater
Iron production capacity (million tonnes per year)	2
Steel production capacity (million tonnes per year)	Not applicable
CO2 capture (million tonnes CO2 per year)	Not applicable
Hydrogen generation capacity (MW)	Not applicable
Investment size (m USD)	1137
Partners	Romgaz, Eximbank
Date of announcement	2020-06-10

Plant Details

Table 2: General Plant Details

Start date	Workforce size	Power source
1968	5600	Planning to install 250MW of solar

Table 3: Ownership and Parent Company Information

Parent company	Parent company PermID	Parent company GEM ID	Owner	Owner company PermID	Owner company GEM ID
GFG Alliance Ltd	5057811578	E100001000556	Liberty Galati SA	4297372133	E100001010333

Table 4: Process and Products

Steel product category	Steel products	ISO 14001	ISO 50001	Responsible steel	Main production equipment
semi-finished, finished rolled	galvanized, cold rolled, coated	Expired	Expired	no	BF; DRI; BOF; EAF

Table 5: Plant-level Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

¹Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Capacity operating status1	Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity	Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity	Nominal crude steel capacity (total)
announced	–	4100	4100
operating pre-retirement	3200	–	3200

Table 6: Plant-level Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

¹Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for an explanation of the different capacity operating statuses.

Capacity operating status1	Blast furnace capacity	Sponge iron/DRI capacity	Nominal iron capacity (total)
announced	–	2500	2500
mothballed pre-retirement	2100	–	2100

Table 7: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)

Ferronickel	Sinter	Coke	Pellets
0	>0	0	0

Table 8: Actual Plant-level Crude Steel Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year	BOF production	Other/unknown steel production	Total (all routes)
2019	unknown	unknown	–
2020	unknown	unknown	–
2021	2350	–	2350
2022	1630	–	1630

Table 9: Actual Plant-level Crude Iron Production by Year (thousand tonnes per annum)

Year	BF production	Other/unknown iron production	Total (all routes)
2019	unknown	unknown	–
2020	unknown	unknown	–
2021	2300	–	2300
2022	unknown	unknown	–

Unit Details

Table 10: Blast Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Start date	Retired date	Furnace manufacturer and model	Current size	Current capacity (ttpa)	Decarbonization technology	Most recent relining
BF 5	mothballed pre-retirement	1978	2025	Paul Wurth (parts)	3100.0	2100	Injects oxygen-enriched air to reduce carbon emissions methane gas use by 75%	2023-03

Table 11: Direct Reduced Iron Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Announced date	Start date	Current capacity (ttpa)	Reductant
unknown DRI (1)	announced	2022	2030	2500	methane

Table 12: Electric Arc Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Announced date	Start date	Furnace manufacturer and model	Current capacity (ttpa)	Current size (tonnes)
unknown EAF (1)	announced	2022	2030	Tenova Consteel	1500	160.0
unknown EAF (2)	announced	2022	2030	Tenova Consteel	1500	160.0
unknown EAF (3)	announced	2022	2030	Danieli MI.DA Minimill	1100	–

Table 13: Electric Arc Furnace Feedstock Details

Unit name	Scrap-based	% scrap	% DRI
unknown EAF (1)	yes	>0	>0
unknown EAF (2)	yes	>0	>0
unknown EAF (3)	yes	>0	>0

Table 14: Basic Oxygen Furnace Details

Unit name	Status	Furnace manufacturer and model	Current capacity (ttpa)	Current size
unknown BOF (1)	operating pre-retirement	Danieli	1600	180.0 tonnes
unknown BOF (2)	operating pre-retirement	–	1600	–

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 Iron and Steel Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

Resources

• Company website
• Wikipedia