Libya Steel Industry: Production, Exports & Outlook 2026

Libya's steel industry has an operating base in Misrata and a major new direct reduced iron project under construction east of Benghazi. The distinction matters when assessing how much iron and steel Libya produces, which products it exports, and how quickly new industrial investment could affect the non-oil economy.

The Libyan Iron and Steel Company (LISCO) already makes liquid steel, reinforcing bars, rolled products and direct reduced iron. Its corporate statistics now extend through June 30, 2026, providing a view of actual production and sales. Tosyalı-SULB, the Turkish-Libyan joint venture developing a DRI complex at Ras Al-Mangar, is still in construction. Its first contracted plant has annual design capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of cold DRI, according to technology supplier Midrex. That is planned capacity, not current output.

Together, the two operations explain the industry's commercial structure: existing steelmaking and domestic product sales in Misrata, alongside a proposed expansion in intermediate iron production intended partly for international markets. Evaluating the sector requires keeping production, sales, capacity and export ambitions in separate categories.

What does Libya's steel industry produce?

Libya manufactures several products at different stages of the iron and steel value chain. Direct reduced iron (DRI) is made by removing oxygen from iron ore without melting it in a blast furnace. Hot briquetted iron (HBI) is DRI compacted at high temperature into dense briquettes, which are better suited to storage and seaborne transport than many loose forms of DRI. Steelmaking then uses iron-bearing materials and scrap, often in electric arc furnaces, to produce liquid steel that can be cast and rolled into finished or semi-finished products.

These distinctions are important for statistics. A tonne of DRI is not a tonne of finished steel, and the same iron can appear at successive production stages. Adding a company's DRI, HBI, liquid steel, billet and rebar figures would double-count material flowing through its plants.

LISCO's production units include direct reduction, steelmaking, long-product and flat-product rolling. Its products cover reinforcing bars, wire products, sections, hot-rolled products and semi-finished steel. The company also has port, power, water, oxygen, workshop and quality-control facilities, according to its corporate description.

Who are the main steel companies in Libya?

LISCO, based in Misrata, is the country's established integrated steel producer. The OECD Steel Outlook 2026 identifies LISCO as Libya's existing steel producer and separately discusses the new Tosyalı project. This does not exclude smaller fabricators, stockholders or processors, but a comprehensive verified national directory of those businesses was not established in this review.

The second major development is Tosyalı-SULB, a joint venture between Türkiye's Tosyalı Holding and Libya United Steel Company for Iron and Steel Industry (SULB). It is developing a DRI complex at Ras Al-Mangar, east of Benghazi. Ahmed Gadalla chairs Tosyalı-SULB, while the international partner contributes direct-reduction operating experience and engineering relationships. LIM's dedicated project analysis covers the venture's construction and ownership in greater detail.

For sector statistics, the key difference is operational status. LISCO's production and sales are reported historical activity. Tosyalı-SULB's announced capacity belongs to a facility that has not yet been shown to have begun commercial production.

How much iron and steel does LISCO produce?

LISCO's published production table reports 1,215,890 tonnes of liquid steel in 2025, up from 1,106,677 tonnes in 2024. LIM calculates an increase of 9.9% using the two annual company figures. This is LISCO's liquid-steel series; it should not be presented without qualification as the national crude-steel total used in international statistical comparisons.

For January through June 2026, LISCO reported 511,221 tonnes of liquid steel, 531,345 tonnes of DRI, 346,294 tonnes of HBI, and 417,155 tonnes of bars and rods. These figures describe different operations and products, not a single additive output total. The company states that its designed liquid-steel capacity is 1.7 million tonnes per year, but capacity is an engineering benchmark rather than evidence of annual production at that level.

The statistics also show why a sector overview should be updated at least annually. The operating base changes through equipment availability, input supply, demand and maintenance, while project announcements can describe capacity several years before production begins.

What do Libya's steel exports and domestic sales show?

LISCO's external-sales table records 282,187 tonnes sold externally in the first half of 2026, including 269,362 tonnes of HBI. Dividing HBI sales by total external sales gives 95.5%. This is an LIM calculation of LISCO's export-sales composition by weight, not an estimate of Libya's total national steel exports.

The figure needs context. Company sales can differ from customs-recorded shipments and export receipts, and the first-half 2026 mix may be affected by timing and the absence of scrap exports in the company's reported categories. In 2025, HBI accounted for 560,477 tonnes of 799,124 tonnes of annual external sales, or 70.1% by weight. The full-year 2025 figure should not be compared directly with a half-year 2026 figure as evidence of a permanent market shift.

Domestic sales show a different product mix. LISCO reported 495,357 tonnes of local sales in the first half of 2026, including 395,454 tonnes of reinforcing bar. Rebar therefore accounted for 79.8% of its domestic sales by weight, according to an LIM calculation from the company's local-sales data.

These two ratios identify an important feature of the existing business: intermediate iron dominates the company's reported external sales, while rebar dominates its local sales. They do not establish national import dependence, total construction demand or the value of steel exports. Those questions require customs data, price information and coverage of other suppliers.

What is Tosyalı-SULB building near Benghazi?

The project is designed around direct reduction of iron ore, with natural gas available as an initial reducing fuel and a technology pathway that could permit greater hydrogen use later. Midrex and SMS group announced in February 2025 that they had been selected for a first-phase plant with 2.5 million tonnes per year of cold DRI capacity. Cold DRI is an intermediate iron product; it is not equivalent to 2.5 million tonnes of finished steel.

The project's published capacity descriptions are not fully consistent. Tosyalı Holding's original 2024 announcement referred to an 8.1-million-tonne long-term DRI complex and a 2.7-million-tonne first-stage concept. The joint venture's current About page also states 2.7 million tonnes for Phase 1 and 8.1 million tonnes in total, while its homepage describes annual capacity of up to 7.5 million tonnes. The 2.5-million-tonne Midrex figure is the contracted equipment-package scope. The company has not provided a public reconciliation of all these figures in the materials reviewed here.

Tosyalı-SULB's About page reports 40% completion of Phase 1, with Phase 2 work having started. Its October 23 construction update describes continuing work on foundations, structures, the control building, substation and equipment installation. None of these disclosures establishes that commercial production has begun. Management has publicly targeted early 2028 for commercial production, according to September reporting; that remains a target rather than a verified start date.

The current project can therefore be assessed through physical construction, equipment delivery, utilities and commissioning milestones, rather than by counting future nameplate capacity as output today.

What role do natural gas, electricity, water and ports play?

Gas-based DRI plants use natural gas in the reduction process and need dependable power, cooling, water treatment and materials handling. Steelmaking and rolling require additional electricity, maintenance capacity and specialized skills. These inputs determine whether nameplate capacity can become commercially reliable output.

LISCO's existing industrial complex includes its own port and pellet yard, power generation and water-desalination facilities. These assets demonstrate how extensive the supporting infrastructure for integrated iron and steel production can be. They do not establish that every Libyan steel project has equivalent infrastructure or the same energy cost.

The Benghazi development is also planning substantial utility and logistics facilities. The new project's Mediterranean location could reduce some shipping distances to nearby markets, but a cost advantage cannot be inferred without freight rates, port charges, ore procurement costs, delivered gas prices, operating availability and product specifications. These variables are not sufficiently public to support a verified per-tonne cost comparison in this review.

Domestic economic benefits will depend on how much construction, equipment servicing, engineering, transport and maintenance work can be performed by Libyan suppliers. New production capacity alone does not reveal local procurement shares or the number of permanent jobs created after commissioning.

How could European and British carbon rules affect Libya's iron exports?

The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism entered its definitive phase on January 1, 2026, covering iron and steel among other specified goods. For relevant products, importers must comply with rules governing embedded emissions and carbon costs. The precise treatment depends on the commodity code, applicable calculation methodology, verified emissions and importer circumstances. It is inaccurate to describe CBAM as a single flat tariff on every tonne of Libyan iron.

The United Kingdom plans a separate CBAM beginning January 1, 2027, with iron and steel among the covered sectors. Its design and thresholds are not identical to the EU mechanism.

Gas-based DRI can have lower process emissions than conventional coal-based blast-furnace ironmaking under suitable conditions, but an individual project's emissions advantage cannot be established from its technology label alone. Electricity, gas supply, upstream emissions, operating efficiency and any future hydrogen input will affect its measured carbon intensity. Libyan exporters serving Europe or Britain will need reliable product classification, emissions documentation and competitive delivered prices.

What does international competition mean for Libya?

Global steel markets are competitive and often affected by excess capacity. The OECD Steel Outlook 2026 projects global steel excess capacity could reach 745 million tonnes by 2028. That estimate concerns the wider steel market rather than a forecast of DRI demand alone, but it cautions against assuming every announced industrial project will secure attractive sales.

Tosyalı's operating experience in Algeria is a useful reference point. Midrex reported that one Tosyalı Algerie DRI module produced 2.43 million tonnes in 2025. This is actual Algerian module output, whereas the Libyan first phase remains a contracted future facility. The figures cannot be treated as two plants already producing at comparable rates.

For Libyan producers, export competitiveness will depend on the full cost of turning imported ore or pellets and domestic energy into a product that meets buyers' technical and regulatory requirements. The most relevant potential trade partners include European steelmaking markets, Türkiye and Mediterranean countries, but intentions to sell into those markets should not be confused with disclosed offtake contracts.

What investment opportunities and risks should be monitored?

Existing production creates demand for ore handling, transport, industrial gases, spare parts, maintenance and quality control. Expansion projects may create additional work in civil construction, electrical systems, port services, engineering and workforce training. The size of the opportunity for Libyan firms will depend on tender access, technical certification, financing and the share of procurement actually placed locally.

Risks remain measurable. Investors need to monitor energy availability and cost, port readiness, construction and commissioning schedules, customer qualification, working capital, carbon-accounting obligations and product-price exposure. A large DRI facility can produce significant tonnage while still facing weak margins if feedstock, energy, freight or financing costs are unfavorable.

The industry's economic contribution should be assessed through actual production, export receipts, reliable domestic supply, permanent employment, supplier contracts and retained local value added. Proposed capacity and projected jobs belong in forward-looking project analysis until they are verified operational outcomes.

What data should investors watch next?

The most useful near-term indicators are LISCO's next production and sales tables, changes in HBI export volumes and domestic rebar sales, verified customs statistics for iron and steel, and documented construction or commissioning milestones at Tosyalı-SULB. European and UK carbon-border guidance also deserves monitoring because it will affect reporting and commercial requirements for relevant exports.

Libya has an operating iron and steel industry with measurable output and international sales. It also has a major new DRI investment whose economic effects remain conditional on completion, operation and market access. Keeping those two facts separate provides a sounder basis for assessing the sector than headline capacity announcements.

Frequently asked questions

Does Libya produce steel? Yes. LISCO in Misrata produces liquid steel and rolled products, and publishes production data through June 2026.

Does Libya export iron and steel products? Yes. LISCO reports external sales of HBI and other products. Its company sales should not be mistaken for complete national customs-export totals.

Is Tosyalı-SULB producing steel already? No commercial production was verified in the reviewed company disclosures as of October 26, 2026. The project is under construction and its contracted first-phase product is cold DRI.

What is the difference between DRI and HBI? DRI is iron ore reduced without conventional blast-furnace melting; HBI is a dense, hot-compacted form of DRI that is better suited to handling and shipping.

Who chairs Tosyalı-SULB? Ahmed Gadalla chairs the Turkish-Libyan joint venture developing the Benghazi DRI project.

Will EU CBAM apply to Libyan iron? Certain covered iron and steel imports into the EU are subject to CBAM. The obligations depend on the product classification and regulatory details; exporters and importers should verify the applicable requirements.

Methodology: LIM calculations use LISCO's own production, domestic-sales and external-sales tables, with product categories and reporting periods stated above. Company-reported quantities have not been independently audited by LIM. The planned Tosyalı-SULB capacity figures are attributed separately to the venture, its parent-company announcement and its technology suppliers. This article is sector analysis, not investment advice