Oceania Steel Market: GFG Liberty Activity High Despite Global Uncertainty

Oceania’s steel market presents a mixed picture. While European markets face uncertainty as reflected in articles like “The expectations of buyers and sellers in the European HRC steel market differ” and “European HRC market in wait-and-see mode,” GFG Liberty Laverton Steel Mill in Australia maintains high activity levels. However, no direct relationship between the European market situation described in the news articles and observed Oceania steel plant activity can be explicitly established.

Bar chart and satellite map of steel production activity in Oceania

The mean steel plant activity in Oceania fluctuated between 31% and 46% from December 2024 to May 2025. BlueScope Port Kembla consistently operated below the mean. BlueScope New Zealand Steel Glenbrook showed more stability, while GFG Liberty Laverton Steel Mill consistently showed high activity, significantly exceeding the mean throughout the period.

BlueScope Port Kembla steel plant: This integrated steel plant in New South Wales, Australia, boasts a crude steel capacity of 3.2 million tonnes per annum (ttpa) using basic oxygen furnace (BOF) technology. It produces slabs, hot rolled coil, and plate primarily for the building and infrastructure sectors. Satellite data shows a decline in activity from 49% in December 2024 to 37% in May 2025. This decline cannot be directly linked to any of the provided news articles concerning the European market.

BlueScope New Zealand Steel Glenbrook: Located in South Auckland, this plant utilizes direct reduced iron (DRI) technology alongside BOF to produce 650,000 ttpa of crude steel. Its product range includes slabs, hot and cold rolled products for building, infrastructure, steel packaging, and machinery. The plant’s activity remained relatively stable, fluctuating between 44% and 53%. The activity level cannot be directly linked to any of the provided news articles concerning the European market.

GFG Liberty Laverton Steel Mill: This electric arc furnace (EAF) based mill in Victoria, Australia, has a crude steel capacity of 660,000 ttpa. It specializes in steel long products like reinforcing bar, mesh, and tubular sections for building, infrastructure, energy, and transport sectors. Activity remained high, decreasing slightly from 82% in December/January to 75% in May, consistently outperforming the regional average. This high level of activity occurs while the “Italian heavy steel plate prices under downward pressure; Northern Europe market unchanged,” suggesting localized demand for long products may be robust.

Evaluated Market Implications:

The consistently high activity at GFG Liberty Laverton Steel Mill, particularly in contrast to the observed price pressures and uncertainty in the European steel plate market (“Italian heavy steel plate prices under downward pressure; Northern Europe market unchanged”), suggests stable regional demand for long steel products in Oceania.

  • Procurement Action: Steel buyers focused on long products within Oceania, especially in Australia, should secure supply contracts with GFG Liberty Laverton Steel Mill or comparable regional suppliers to mitigate potential price increases if European market instability (“European HRC market in wait-and-see mode”) eventually impacts the broader global steel supply chain. The observed high activity suggests strong local demand, and proactive contracting is advised.