The company reported a turnover of RON1.77 billion (EUR359 million) and EBITDA of RON256 million (EUR52 million), its best quarterly results since 2008.
This continued the positive progress from the second half of last year. In 2020, Liberty Galati had a turnover of almost RON4.7 billion (EUR1 billion) and EBITDA of RON187 million (EUR38 million).
The plant in Galati has raised its production target for 2021 and is accelerating the planning for the strategic projects required to transform the plant to carbon neutrality by 2030.
It is currently in the process of significantly increasing its production, achieving shipments of around 531,000 tons in the first quarter of 2021. This compares to the almost 2 million tons shipped in 2020, achieved despite the first half of 2020 being impacted by the very challenging European steel market and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which saw a number of key customers halt operations, the company said.
The company’s management team is now accelerating the preparation of a range of projects to improve its existing infrastructure and the quality of its product portfolio as well as strategic initiatives which will support the plant’s transformation into a carbon neutral supplier of GREENSTEEL by 2030. These include the installation of two electric arc furnaces, a direct reduced iron plant, a hydrogen production plant and solar and wind renewable energy fields. These projects will be supported by a collaboration with Galati State University “Dunarea de Jos” and with the Romanian Institute to develop research projects which will increase the plant’s ability to use hydrogen technology in steel making.
“We are very pleased that GFG Alliance remains committed to building a sustainable future for Liberty Galati so that our plant can continue to contribute to the economy of the region and to Romania for years to come. The results for the first quarter are the best we have seen for many years but we expect even better ones in the second quarter,” said Aida Nechifor, the company’s general manager since June 1.