The Dudelange plant's existing workforce of 300 decreased to around 150, with the remaining 150 employees engaged in basic maintenance work at the plant.
The company faced imminent bankruptcy after years of stagnant operations, delayed salary payments and a never-ending search for investors. Labor unions reported that the plant had neither produced nor sold for more than two years and that salaries were paid only with support from Liberty Steel's parent company.
The possibility of the company coming under external management had previously been reported, due to the discontinuation of production, lack of a replacement owner, lack of sufficient government support and lack of a strategic investor. The Luxembourg government's proposal to take control of the company for sale to a private investor was reportedly rejected by Liberty Steel as it was not sufficient to resolve the financial crisis.
The conditions of the stagnation in the European steel market also resulted in difficulties for Liberty Steel in finding buyers or investors willing to take over the Dudelange and Liège plants.
Liberty Steel announced a plan to sell its Liège and Magona plants along with Dudelange. The situation has become more difficult due to Liberty Steel's EUR 140 million debt after ArcelorMittal's acquisition of Eastern European division in 2019. Due to the debt, it was announced that ArcelorMittal was granted the right to take over the Eastern European division of Liberty Steel by a recent court decision in London.
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