Tata Steel wants to accelerate efforts towards decarbonisation in Britain, its chief executive said on Thursday, in the backdrop of trade unions voting to strike against the company’s plans to cut jobs.

“We want to move fast and build the new electric arc furnace faster, so that’s why, for us, the timelines are clear,” Tata Steel CEO and Managing Director T. V. Narendran told Reuters in an interview.

The company is in the process of closing its two blast furnaces in Britain, with a loss of up to 2,800 jobs at its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales. The British trade union community has voted for strike action against these job-cut plans.

“We will deal with it when it comes to that,” Narendran said.

 

The union, which has not yet given a date for industrial action, said members have voted to demand a better deal for the workforce.

CHINA CONCERN, STEEL DEMAND

Chinese exports of steel into India were a “growing concern,” Narendran said, as India turned net importer in the fiscal year that ended in March.

In 2023/24, China was the top steel exporter to India, with shipments reaching 2.7 million metric tons, nearly double that of the previous year, according to provisional government data.

India, the world’s second-biggest crude steel producer, remains a bright spot globally with robust demand from its construction and automotive sectors.

Narendran expects India’s steel demand to grow 8-10% in 2024/25.

He expects steel prices and prices of coking coal to be rangebound over the next few months and then move upwards in the second half of the year.

Separately, during 2024/25, the steelmaker plans to add production capacity of 1.4 million metric tons. It also plans to spend around 170 billion rupees ($2.04 billion), of which 75% will be spent in India and the rest in Europe, Narendran said.

First Published: May 30 2024 | 8:00 PM IST