SIMEC Group Ltd is a British international energy and natural resources business focused on resources, sustainable power, infrastructure, and commodities trading. It is part of the

GFG Alliance GFG Alliance (long name Gupta Family Group Alliance), usually referred to as GFG, is an international group of businesses associated with businessman Sanjeev Gupta and the British Gupta family. , the companies in the group are Liberty Steel Group, ...

, which is owned by members of the Gupta family.

History

The group was founded in 1996 by Parduman K. Gupta, whose son,

Sanjeev Gupta Sanjeev Gupta is an Indian-born British businessman, and the founder of Liberty House Group. He is the CEO and chairman of GFG Alliance, an international conglomerate that operates primarily in the steel and mining industries, its major subsid ...

, had established

Liberty House Group Liberty Steel Group Holdings UK Ltd (LSG), which is also referred to as Liberty House or Liberty House UK, is a British industrial and metals company founded in the United Kingdom in 1992 by industrialist Sanjeev Gupta. It is headquartered in ...

in 1992. In 2013, SIMEC Group refocused itself, mainly on sustainable power, mining, and infrastructure. In 2016 SIMEC had an annual turnover of almost

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

2.5 billion and net assets of USD350 million. it was trading in 60 countries, with 200 locations.

Description

The SIMEC Group (along with

Liberty Steel Group Liberty Steel Group Holdings UK Ltd (LSG), which is also referred to as Liberty House or Liberty House UK, is a British industrial and metals company founded in the United Kingdom in 1992 by industrialist Sanjeev Gupta. It is headquartered in ...

) is an independent company within the GFG Alliance, of which Sanjeev Gupta became executive chairman. The company is focused on resources, sustainable power, infrastructure, and commodities trading, Its activities span renewable energy generation, mining, shipping, and commodities trading.

SIMEC Group in Australia

Among many developments since then, in 2017 it acquired Arrium Mining and OneSteel operations in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

for USD750 million. The mining assets of the former company included iron ore (

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula . It is one of the iron oxide, oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetism, ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetization, magnetized to become a ...

and

haematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . ...

) mines in the Middleback Range and a dolomite mine (to supply blast furnace

flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications in physics. For transport phe ...

) at

Ardrossan, South Australia Ardrossan is a town in the Australian states and territories, Australian state of South Australia located on the eastern coast of the Yorke Peninsula, about by road from the Adelaide city centre. It is notable for its deepwater shipping port an ...

. In 2017, GFG Alliance purchased Arrium's

Whyalla Steelworks The Whyalla Steelworks is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. It produces 75% of all structural steel in Australia. Iron ore is mined in the Middleback Range to feed the steelworks, resulting in the dist ...

, announcing that a new

AUD The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD; also abbreviated A$ or sometimes AU$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; and also referred to as the dollar or Aussie dollar) is the official currency and legal tender of Au ...

600 million investment would lift production to 1.8 million tonnes a year. In 2018 the company announced it would build a new steel manufacturing plant next to the existing one. It would be capable of producing 10 million tonnes a year – making it the largest in the

western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

– and have infrastructure to eventually double that capacity. SIMEC Mining acquired mining leases in 2018 for the Iron Sultan and Iron Warrior mines in the Middleback Range, south-west of

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

, reflecting the need for significant sources of iron ore for its expanding capacity. Another member of GFG Alliance, SIMEC Energy Australia Pty Ltd, acquired a controlling stake in South Australian renewable energy and storage technologies company, ZEN Energy Pty Ltd, in 2017 and formed a joint venture named SIMEC Zen Energy. Sanjeev Gupta said his company was investing in large-scale power projects to meet its own industrial requirements.

References

Energy companies of the United Kingdom Energy companies established in 1996 1996 establishments in England {{energy-company-stub