THE First Minister will hail the future of steel and engineering in Scotland as she formally re-opens what was the country’s last major steelworks today.
Indian conglomerate Tata ceased production at its Dalzell steel plate mill in Motherwell and the Clydebridge plant in Cambuslang last year, with the loss of 270 jobs.
The plants were bought by metals firm Liberty House earlier this year, and Nicola Sturgeon will officially mark the restart of the Dalzell steel mill today.
Speaking ahead of the event, Sturgeon described the reopening as a “very positive signal that the steel and engineering industries still have a future here in Scotland”.
Liberty House said many of the 120 staff at the plant are former employees, and it hopes to increase employment to 200 within 18 months.
Dalzell is now the only major steelworks in Scotland and has provided steel plate used in industries such as shipbuilding, construction, mining, oil production and manufacture of heavy vehicles.
The owners said the plant has “already secured a significant number of orders for plate”, particularly in the construction and energy sectors, and they expect the revamped plant to be worth about £15 million a year to the economy.
Sturgeon said: “This is a fantastic day for Dalzell workers, for Motherwell and for Scotland’s steel industry.
“Restarting steel production has only been possible thanks to the tremendous team effort of everyone involved in the steel taskforce to find a viable future for this site, meaning workers here in Lanarkshire can once again produce world-class products.
“Liberty House are seizing an exciting opportunity and the Scottish Government and its agencies will continue to work with Sanjeev Gupta and his team to ensure a successful future in Scotland.”
Liberty House Group executive chairman Gupta paid tribute to the support of the Scottish Government and the role pf Scottish Enterprise in helping the company rescue the plate works.
Scottish ministers played a key role in the deal through a “back-to-back” agreement involving the Government buying the plants from Tata and immediately selling them on to Liberty, with the sale completed under the same terms with no cost to the taxpayer.
Gupta said: “There is an impressive spirit of partnership here and a determination to give the Scottish steel industry a real future.
“From our side we promised we would get this important plant open again by the autumn and today we are proud to be fulfilling that promise.”
He said the firm sees “great opportunities for investment in Scotland and regards this as a very fertile business environment”, adding that the Clydebridge works will reopen when market conditions allow.
Jon Bolton, chief executive of Liberty Steel UK plates and UK steel development, said: “Restarting this mill only nine months after production was halted has been a tremendous achievement.
“Seeing the plant producing steel plate once again is just reward for all the determination and hard work of the team here at Dalzell.
“We now intend to ramp production up as quickly as the market will allow.”
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