Tata Steel's announcement, which was canceled at the last minute, included the shutdown of the hot strip mill as well as blast furnaces in the UK in the coming months.
If the strip mill is shut down, Tata will remain the importer of hot rolled coil (HRC) , possibly from its Indian parent company, which will be further processed at British rolling mills.
During the conference call announcing the latest results, Tata said it would import 2.5-2.6 million tonnes of billet steel to ensure a stable supply chain for its processing division.
This will entail a change in the protections for steel in the UK: without domestic production, HRC will no longer be listed and can be imported duty-free from all regions free of dumping/subsidy duties.
“We will endeavor to formally engage with trade regulators at the appropriate time, as quotas are also taken into account in the context of the fact that if an oil company in the UK does not operate, we will sole producer of flat products, so from a trade perspective that will be reviewed in due course,” Tata said on a conference call.
Union sources said the plan would entail the loss of 3,000 jobs, although Tata has not confirmed this. Senior trade unionists invited to a meeting with Tata on Wednesday told the company they would vote for a strike if that was the plan.
“We will never accept Tata and the government's plan to close our iron and steel plants and supply our factories with foreign steel, no matter how many years they spend building EAFs,” said Community Union general secretary Roy Rickhus.
Tata's board is now likely to evaluate Syndex's report on potential alternatives to its plan before making another statement.
