MEPS’s global steel production and capacity round-up

Thyssenkrupp’s restructure plans, Liberty Steel bankruptcies and Celsa Steel UK’s takeover are among the industry updates in MEPS International’s final global steel production and capacity round-up of 2025.

Bringing together some of the key steel sector developments from across Europe, North America and Asia, December's compilation draws on research conducted for MEPS’s portfolio of steel market reviews.

Visit the MEPS’s homepage for more information about the European Steel Review, International Steel Review and Stainless Steel Review.

Europe

Thyssenkrupp

Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s plan to replace two blast furnaces at its Duisburg site with a DRI plant and two EAFs remains unchanged, despite its restructuring plans.

The steelmaker announced that it will reduce its workforce from 27,000 to 16,000 and lower annual production capacity by up to 25% by 2030 (see Keynote article).

However, the company’s ongoing sale to the Czech energy company, EP Group, and its plans for the Duisburg site, will not be affected.  EP Group has already acquired a 20% stake and intends to increase its share to 50%.

Liberty Steel

Liberty Steel’s Liège and Dudelange sites were declared bankrupt in late November.

The Luxembourg Commercial Court delivered its ruling after the company failed to pay staff their October and November salaries. The court has appointed a receiver to oversee bankruptcy proceedings, which will focus on finding a potential buyer.

Liberty Steel’s Liège and Dudelange sites specialise in the production of galvanised coils.

SSAB

Steel plant manufacturer SMS will construct a new EAF at SSAB’s Oxelösund facility in Sweden.

SSAB first announced the EUR500 million investment into the decarbonisation of its Oxelösund mill in June 2023. The new furnace will be one of the world’s largest, with a capacity of 190 tonnes, and is expected to be commissioned in late 2026.

In October, the European Commission also approved of the Swedish government’s plan to provide a EUR128m grant to support the decarbonisation of SSAB’s Luleå site. A new EAF at that facility will have an annual production capacity of up to 2.5 million tonnes.

Metinvest

Metinvest and Danieli are close to agreeing to form a joint venture focusing on the construction of a new EUR2.5 billion flat steel mill in Piombino, Italy.

The EAF-based facility will produce 2.7m tonnes of hot rolled coil annually, using scrap, pig iron, and direct reduced iron from Ukraine. The companies want to have the mill, which is currently in the planning stage, declared as a project of “national strategic interest”. This would help it to accelerate the approvals process.

Metinvest Adria, a newly formed Italy-based subsidiary of Metinvest, will own a majority stake in the new facility, while Danieli will hold 25%. Commissioning is expected by late 2027.

Celsa Steel

Czech investment firm Sev.en Global Investments has formally entered an agreement to acquire Celsa Steel UK and Celsa Nordic from their Spanish parent company, Celsa Group.

Celsa Steel UK is considered the largest steel recycler in the United Kingdom. The company, based in Cardiff, South Wales, has an annual long products production capacity of up to 1.2 million tonnes.

Celsa Nordic operates in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, and offers integrated scrap collection and processing, and steel products for the construction industry.

Marcegaglia Stainless

Marcegaglia has secured EUR100 million in funding from the European Investment Bank to decarbonise its operations in Northern Italy.

The new funding will support the company’s EUR170 million investments to digitalise and automate logistics at its Ravenna and San Giorgio di Nogaro plants.

Marcegaglia aims to complete these projects by 2028.

Asia

Shandong Taigang Xinhai Stainless Steel

Shandong Taigang Xinhai Stainless Steel has commenced hot trials of its new 2,100mm annealing and pickling line in Junan, Lingyi city.

The new equipment has an annual production capacity of up to 900,000 tonnes. Its installation marks the completion of the company’s development of 1.75 million tonnes per year in new annealing and pickling capacity. A similar 1,600mm unit, with an annual output of 850,000 tonnes, was completed in June.

Fujian Tsingtuo Special Steel

Tsingtuo Special Steel has commissioned a fourth hot strip annealing and pickling line at its Ningde facility in Fujian province.

The unit can treat strip with widths up to 1,550mm. The Ningde site can now produce up to three million tonnes of stainless steel strip annually.

Acerinox

Acerinox has completed the divestment of its Malaysian subsidiary Bahru Stainless to Worldwide Stainless in a deal worth USD95 million.

Acerinox had previously confirmed that it ceased production at the site in May 2024 due to challenging market conditions caused by competition from Chinese manufacturers.

JFE Steel

JFE Steel Corporation has announced plans to construct a new continuous hot dipped galvanising line at its West Japan Works in Fukuyama.

The Japanese steelmaker’s JPY70 billion (USD475m) project is scheduled for completion in quarter three 2028. The new facility will have an annual production capacity of 360,000 tonnes of ultra-high strength galvanised steel sheets.

JFE has stated that the project is intended to satisfy increased demand from the automotive industry. 

Kobe Steel

Japan’s Kobe Steel has announced it will modernise an existing galvanising line to apply zinc, aluminium and magnesium coatings to substrate.

The company is investing JPY32 billion (USD475m) in the project. The new equipment will have an annual output of up to 250,000 tonnes and is expected to be commissioned in summer 2028.

Liuzhou Iron & Steel

Liuzhou Iron & Steel (Liugang) has commissioned a new heavy plate mill in China’s Guangxi province.

This facility, which took 12 months to complete, has a capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per year. It produces specialised plates for industries like shipbuilding, wind power, and construction.

Liugang also commissioned a blast furnace at another nearby site. These projects mark the completion of the first phase of its USD5 billion project at the port of Fangchenggang.

North America

Liberty Steel Peoria

Liberty Steel USA has announced plans to temporarily shut its Peoria wire rod plant in Illinois and furlough the site’s workers.

The company cited an influx of low-priced imports as the reason for the decision, which will affect the plant’s melt shop and rolling mills. The facility has been operating at reduced capacity since September.