International Steel Mills
Tata Steel UK Sale Process Begins Monday
Written by Sandy Williams
April 6, 2016
The formal sale process for Tata Steel’s UK assets will begin on Monday and will last a reasonable amount of time, according to UK Business Secretary Sajid Javid.
Several potential bidders have already come forward said Javid, adding that he hoped “many, many more” would do so.
Liberty House, an international metals group, has been identified as one of the bidders and is the current favorite to buy the Tata operation. Liberty owns a steel plant in Newport, Wales and will take over the two Scottish mills that are under temporary ownership by the government.
Sanjeev Gupta, CEO of Liberty House, told BBC that a takeover of the assets would be complicated and would involve commitments from the government to help with £2 billion in pension deficits and other support.
Gupta envisions transforming the Tata mills from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces to take advantage of lower cost and domestically available scrap metal instead of imported raw materials. According to the BBC report, Liberty estimates that 700 blast furnace staff would need to be retrained and the transition would take a year to 18 months.
Another rescue source may be investment fund Greybull, which is interested in the Scunthorpe plant and, potentially, the Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in International Steel Mills
ArcelorMittal inks 10-year green steel pact with roof window maker
ArcelorMittal has entered into a 10-year commercial agreement with the Velux Group to supply the Denmark-based roof window maker with an increased amount of sustainably produced steel.
Nippon requests Japan’s government restrict steel imports from China
Nippon Steel and other Japanese steelmakers are lobbying for the Japanese government to limit imports of Chinese steel, according to a report in Reuters.
SSAB taps Sjöström as new president, CEO
SSAB has appointed Johnny Sjöström as president and CEO of the Swedish steelmaker.
ArcelorMittal Q2 earnings dive, Mexican strike hits profits
ArcelorMittal’s earnings fell precipitously from a year earlier as the company said current market conditions are unsustainable.
Nippon withdraws from JV with China’s Baosteel
Japan’s Nippon Steel announced it was withdrawing from a joint venture (JV) with China's Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) that served the Chinese automotive industry.