LIBERTY Magona restarts production lines with fresh investment and new employment as the next generation comes through

After Italy’s very difficult time with the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanjeev, his family and the LIBERTY Magona team recently had reason to celebrate some good news and show how GFG is delivering the strategic investment it promised, while giving young people the opportunity to join the industry.

Sanjeev and the team were joined by Francesco Ferrari, the Mayor of Piombino, employees and around 40 guests (observing strict social distancing rules) to formally inaugurate the plant’s restarted Pickling Line and the completion of the restart work for its Organic Coated Line No1.

Sanjeev said “The €10 million we have invested to restart the mothballed production lines will boost our capability and competitiveness, but most importantly it will see the next generation coming into our business with 81 new recruits between the ages of 20-25 years joining the LIBERTY Magona team. It is vital to the future of our economy and wider society that we attract more young people into the high-quality, high-skilled, jobs our industry can offer.”

The restart of the Pickling Line, which had been closed by the plant’s previous owners in 2012, was one of the key strategic priorities identified by us when we acquired the Magona operation last July as it broadens the product range and opens up a new customer base.  The Magona team is also in the process of restarting its Organic Coated (OC) line 1, which has been mothballed since 2009, which will almost double production of the plant’s highly rated, premium organic coated product, supporting domestic and export demand.

Note: A Pickling Line is used to remove surface oxides (scale) from steel during the hot rolling production process, by passing the steel through tanks of hydrochloric acid, which have very specific concentrations and temperatures, before rinsing. The Pickling process is necessary to guarantee the quality of the coils, which will subsequently be cold rolled and processed directly onto the galvanizing lines.