Huge investment plans revealed by Welsh steelmaker

The £100m plans include a new hydrogen powered furnace at 7 Steel in Cardiff

Owners of Cardiff-based steel maker 7 Steel have confirmed £100m investment plans.

The investment, up to 2030, includes £30m for a new hydrogen-ready furnace, which would be the first large scale industrial application of hydrogen in steel manufacturing in the UK.

Czech investment company Sev.en Global Investments acquired the business from Spanish firm Celsa last year. The business makes steel from scrap steel through its electric arc furnace mill operation.

The £100m investment also covers plant upgrades, technology improvements and wider operational development.

The new furnace will be operational next year but will not initially be using hydrogen.

The Cardiff plant, which also serves as the firm’s UK headquarters, recycles domestic scrap into low-carbon steel for construction, infrastructure, transport and energy projects. Its products, such as rebar and mesh, have gone into some of the UK’s most recognisable buildings and infrastructure, including The Shard, Wembley Stadium, the Heathrow Terminal 5 extension, Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and rail’s HS2.

The investment arrives at an important moment for British steel. The UK Government, which is nationalising the last remaining heavy steelmaking plant in Scunthorpe, has set out plans to build 1.5 million new homes and upgrade infrastructure, both of which will require significant volumes of steel. Sev.en GI says the new policy direction reinforces its case for long-term investment in the sector.

Alan Svoboda, chief executive of Sev.en Global Investments, said: “As the long-term owners of 7 Steel UK, we recognise the strategic importance of a robust independent British steel sector.”

“Steel is a strategic industrial opportunity which requires continuity and a willingness to invest through the cycle. That is exactly how we invest.”

Beyond capital investment, Sev.en GI has said it is committed to the workforce. 7 Steel UK pays 1.5 times the UK median salary and continues to train the next generation of engineers, helping to keep skilled industrial jobs in Cardiff and across the UK.

7 Steel employs over 1,600 people across the UK, with 1,050 based in Wales, of which 800 are in Cardiff. It has 14 sites including four fabricator sites in Neath, Newport, Crumlin, and Whiteheads in Newport, which employ 250. The Cardiff site produces more than one million tonnes of steel a year, making it the UK’s third biggest steel producer.

The operation in the Tremorfa area of Cardiff has been owned and operated by some of the biggest names in British industry such as Guest Keen & Nettlefolds (GKN) before becoming British Steel in 1970.

The blast furnace side of the operations closed in 1978 with the remaining works going through a variety of owners. Previous owners Celsa acquired it in 2003.