Hungary’s largest coke ovens shut down

Hungarian steel maker Liberty Dunaújváros has started shutting down its two coke ovens, Indian owner Liberty Steel said on Monday.

The inefficient and difficult-to-maintain coke ovens are being shut down as Liberty Dunaújváros prepares to switch to green steel.

Liberty Steel noted that it had recently signed a contract with China’s CISDI Engineering on the delivery of an electric arc furnace that would cut carbon emissions by around 80 percent.

In the meantime, Liberty Dunaújváros is working to ensure employees affected by the measure are retrained and transferred to other areas within the company.

Liberty Steel acquired the assets of troubled steelmaker Dunaferr for 20 billion forints in a liquidation procedure in the summer of 2023.

In a separate statement, the national economy ministry said the government will support the technology transition at Liberty Dunaújváros with all means at its disposal and pointed to employment programmes that could smooth the switch. The government remains in close contact with the company, it added.

As we wrote in January, Hungary’s biggest steel producer in trouble restarts rolling mills.

As we wrote yesterday, the National Directorate General for Disaster Management reported to the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) that an earthquake shook Dunaújváros, in the county of Fejér, on Saturday evening, details HERE.