[1] Lisco is among the largest companies in Libya, having an annual production capacity of approximately 1,324,000 tons of liquid steel.

[2] Lisco's operations are primarily supplied by imported iron ore pellets from Brazil, Canada, and Sweden for use as raw materials.

Hot-briquetted iron (HBI) became a significant Libyan mineral export since the LISCO II plant began producing it in 1997.

[3] Lisco has its own captive port with specialized facilities, such as a telescopic ship-loading conveyor for loading HBI into ships.

[6] In 2004, Lisco started exporting about 60,000 tons of HBI to the United States through an Italian company called Techint.

The Government also promoted development of numerous mineral deposits, including clay, gypsum, iron, lead, salt, sodium carbonate, and stone.

In 2006, Lisco initiated an ambitious project aiming to double design capacity to 2.5 million tons by further developing facilities on the 4.5-square-mile (12 km2) plant near Misrata.

The Islamic Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, partially financed the project's cost, with Lisco supplying the remaining amount.

Lending his support, Libya's Secretary of Minerals and Industry, Ali Yusuf Zikri, said the loan should help create new employment opportunities and meet increasing local demand.

This was confirmed by Secretary of the Popular Committee, Dr. Mohammad Abu Ojeila Al-Mabrouk at celebrations in September 2005 on the occasion of the passage of 15 years since the company's mills began production, which concurs with the anniversary of the Al-Fatah Revolution in Libya.

In 2005, Lisco achieved the highest rate of increase in steel production among Arab companies, which amounted to 34.8%.

This drop is due to the fact that the company stopped exporting rebar as well as a global recession, which led to a demand contraction for iron and steel products, particularly hot-rolled coils and HBI.

Higher domestic sales volume reflected a growing trend in the Libyan market's demand and consumption rates for steel products, especially for rebar, which amounted to 138.6 kn (256.7 km/h).