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Another Loss For Tata Steel Announced
Tata Steel has suffered another loss, falling £360 million into the red after tax when a £370 million loss where the sale of its long products business in the UK is taken into account as well.
The news will likely weigh heavy on the minds of steel reinforcement mesh suppliers, as the steel crisis in the UK appears to be deepening. According to the Guardian, the Indian steel company’s European arm, which includes the Port Talbot steelworks branch, did see an operating profit of £90 million in the three months leading up to June, putting this down to cost cuts in the UK and a rise in exports off the back of the weakness of sterling following the EU referendum result on June 24th.
Koushik Chatterjee, executive director of the company, said the British side of the firm did benefit significantly from the weakness of the pound over the quarter, but did not elaborate on the possibility of setting up a joint venture with German company ThyssenKrupp. The sale of Port Talbot in July was suspended so the company could have more time to explore a partnership with ThyssenKrupp.
This comes after plans were put forward to restructure the British Steel Pension Scheme, which has a funds deficit of at least £300 million. If Tata Steel does not remain in the UK, it’s likely that this deficit could rise higher, with some experts believing that it could reach £700 million. In addition, the EU recently imposed tariffs on Chinese and Russian imports of rolled steel.