A court declared the Polish plate manufacturer insolvent in July after a long production shutdown in 2023-24 and a lack of working capital. His appointed administrator subsequently launched a tender for the lease of the plant, which was reportedly attended by five companies, including Metinvest and Weglokoks.
Liberty appealed, saying the company had demonstrated strong support from its largest creditor and had already is undergoing a “major” restructuring and relaunch process.
Liberty Steel Europe CEO Thomas Gangl says: “This is a positive result and means we can continue to move towards a sustainable future for Liberty Czestochowa. We believe the business is well positioned to support Poland's fast-growing defense and sustainable energy sectors with its green steel plate. Our restructuring plan will be the best way to ensure sustainable employment and production in Czestochowa and repay all its creditors.”
Liberty Czestochowa has a production capacity of 700,000 tons of steel per year and 1.2 million tons of plate steel per year.
It is one of the Liberty plants struggling to survive in Central and Eastern Europe, along with Liberty's Czech steel plant in Ostrava (also up for sale) and Dunaujvaros plant in Hungary. Production at both plants was idle for some time. However, the Hungarian plant recently received funding from the China Export Credit Insurance Corporation to switch to electric arc furnace steel production.
