LONDON: Tata Steel’s UK operations are still “not out of the woods” despite a “turnaround”, the company’s CEO has said.
Bimlendra Jha, while addressing the International Dinner at Cardiff Castle in Wales last night, indicated that the firm’s Port Talbot unit — the largest among its UK steelworks — had seen some turnaround but there was a long way to go.
“We must remember that whether you drown one foot under the water or 10 foot under the water, you still drown. Therefore it is important to realise that while there has been a turnaround and this caveat is important, we are still not out of the woods,” Jha said.
“We are all looking for certainty, uncertainty is not good for anybody, not for our workers, our stakeholders or anybody,” he said.
While he refused to comment on speculation about a potential Tata Steel tie-up with German steel giant ThyssenKrupp, the CEO of Tata Steel UK stressed on the need to “never lose hope”, ‘Wales Online’ reported.
Port Talbot and its down-stream businesses are believed to be back in profit but a long-term period of sustained profitability is required for any real turnaround.
In January, 750 workers at the Port Talbot plant were laid off after a restructuring scheme was put in place.
In March, the Mumbai-headquartered firm put its entire UK steel-making business up for sale.
Smaller unit sales aside, the process was halted in July amid reports that it was exploring a possible merger with ThyssenKrupp.
The obstacle is seen as the British Steel Pension Scheme, one of Britain’s biggest with 130,000 retired and working members, 15-billion-pound of assets and a deficit that is expected to have increased significantly from last year’s level of 700 million pounds.
In its last statement on the issue, Tata Steel said it “continues to responsibly develop options to identify the best prospects for the future sustainability of our UK operations and the best outcome for members of the British Steel Pension Scheme”.
Source: Press Trust of India