Liberty Steel plans new blast furnaces for Ostrava mill

by   CIJ iDesk I
2020-02-17   09:36
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In its push to become a high-tech center, the Czech city of Ostrava may have moved away from its traditional coal mining history, but the steel industry continues to play an important role in the city's economy. So the announcement by Liberty Steel that it will be investing billions of crowns in new blast furnaces is an important one. Hospodářské noviny reports that the investments are long overdue and had been expected years ago. The first new furnace could be operational in just two years. The investment will enable the company to increase its output to more than 3 million tons annually and will save it up to 25 percent on emissions fees. The new furnaces will be able to use scrap steel as their source of iron, which is advantageous since unlike iron ore, scrap prices have been falling in recent years. Liberty Steel has set itself the goal of becoming carbon neutral in Europe by 2030.