Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp business will combine in a 50/50 venture
Tata Steel, Britain’s biggest steel producer at Port Talbot steelworks in Wales, and German Industrial Group ThyssenKrupp have signed a memorandum of understanding with a view to merging. The announcement on 20th September 2017, said ThyssenKrupp and Tata’s European operations would join forces in a 50/50 venture which could obviously see some job losses in the UK. The joint venture with ThyssenKrupp will have a total workforce of 48, 000 across Europe. ThyssenKrupp’s chief executive Dr. Heinrich Hiensinger said jobs would have been cut regardless of the deal.
Business Secretary Greg Clark applauded the announcement as an “important step” in safeguarding the future of the steel industry in the UK.
Andrew Robb, Chairman of Tata Steel Europe, said the deal was ” the latest step in building a future for Tata Steel’s activities in Europe, which is sustainable in every sense.”
The Government has been working hard with the unions to secure a sustainable future for Tata Steel in the UK and it’s 4, 000 employees at the Port Talbot and its supply chain,” he said.
It will have sales of £ £13 billion a year, shipping 21 million tonnes of steel a year and will fend off the threat of cheap metal from China.