Tata Steel Europe continues to invest in South Yorkshire, UK operations

Sat, 22 October 2011

Tata Steel Europe, a part of India-based steelmaker Tata Steel, has announced that it is investing a further £4.5 million in its South Yorkshire, UK operations to improve plant reliability and energy efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions and boost production of high-value steel products.

According to the Tata Steel Europe statement, the investment will be made in four separate projects at the Rotherham and Stocksbridge sites. An investment of £1 million in Thrybergh Bar Mill will improve product quality, without, however, increasing overall production at the mill. The £2 million investment in Rotherham for new equipment will reduce electricity usage by more than 9,000 MWh every year.

With more than £0.5 million to be invested in the Rotherham site's small bloom caster, the reliability of the caster will improve and breakdowns will be minimized. A £1 million investment in Stocksbridge is to improve energy efficiency, leading to a reduction in gas consumption. This will also result in reducing CO2 emissions by 2,000 metric tons and saving the company £250,000 a year.

Tags: longs , semis , UK , Europe , Tata Steel , investments , European Union
source steelorbis

Tata may cut Europe steel output if order books weak

Wed Oct 12, 2011

* Working at 80-85 pct of capacity vs 85-90 pct in H1 2011
* Tata Steel trying to reduce stocks-Köhler

LONDON Oct 12 (Reuters) - Tata Steel , the world's No. 7 steelmaker, may cut production further in Europe in the next few months if steel orders weaken, Karl-Ulrich Köhler, CEO of Tata Steel in Europe said on Wednesday.

The company had already cut production capacity from 85-90 percent in the first half this year to 80-85 percent currently, it said.

"We don't exactly know where this is going to go in the next couple of months," Köhler said during a press briefing, talking about the fragile economic situation in Europe.

"If it's a temporary thing we will find temporary solutions. We are not producing to stock, we are reducing stocks, that's part of our efficiency programme and if the order book is not supporting production we can certainly reduce further."

In September, Tata Steel's European unit, shut down one of its four blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, United Kingdom. Another blast furnace at the site was idled a few years ago on a long-term basis, while the two remaining furnaces are currently operating. Tata Steel Europe is the second-largest steel producer in Europe with an annual capacity of 18 million tonnes.

(sourced Reuters)

NYK receives new iron ore carrier Frontier Lodestar

Monday, 10 Oct 2011

Frontier Lodestar, a new 180,000 DWT class ore carrier built by Imabari Shipbuilding Group's Koyo Dockyard Co Ltd, was delivered to NYK.

Frontier Lodestar will be chartered to TATA NYK Shipping Pte Ltd from NYK under a long term contract, and is expected to transport 1.4 million tonnes of ore and coal annually for TATA Steel UK.

The naming and delivery ceremony was attended by Mr Ronald Peter Jackson, former chartering manager at TATA Steel UK Ltd, Mr Rajiv Mukerji MD of TATA NYK Shipping Pte Ltd and Mr Kazuo Ogasawara, corporate officer at NYK.

TATA NYK Shipping is a joint venture established in 2007 by NYK and TATA Steel Ltd. The venture transports materials to and from India mainly for the TATA Group.

Tata Steel to install new line at German service centre

Tue,Mar08, 2011 by PTI

London, Mar 8 (PTI) Tata Steel plans to install a new line to double the slitting capacity of its service centre at Gelsenkirchen, in Germany.

Service Centre Gelsenkirchen GmbH currently operates one slitter and one cut-to-length line and the output is largely destined for the automotive industry.

The second slitting line, together with the associated expansion of the Gelsenkirchen site, will cost 8.6 million euros.

The new line will have a capacity of 140,000 tonnes per annum, almost double the site's existing slitting capacity.

The new slitter will be able to process coil in thicknesses of 0.4-4mm and widths up to 1,650mm, with a maximum yield strength of 1400N/mm2.

It is due to come onstream in early 2012.

Service Centre Gelsenkirchen General Manager Jochen Hoefges, said: "Our strategy toward the automotive sector is to increase the volume and technical innovation of the products we offer.

New Millennium, Tata to extend iron ore deal

Tue,March01,2011

March 1 - New Millennium Capital Corp said late Monday it has agreed to extend an iron ore project exclusivity agreement with India's Tata Steel , which could potentially feed the world's No.7 steelmaker's European unit.

Both companies have mutually agreed to extend the exclusivity period to March 7 from February 28, New Millennium (NML) said.

Tata Steel and NML shall continue to work toward negotiating a binding agreement for the development and operation of the LabMag and KeMag iron ore projects, the company said.

NML had extended Tata's exclusivity right twice -- once by 18 months till the end of last year and once till Feb. 28. (Edited by Reuters)

Tags :LabMag iron ore project, KeMag iron ore project, steel mills, steelmaking

Tata Steel raises UK wire rod prices

Mon Feb 28, 2011 12:48pm GMT

LONDON Feb28 (Reuters) - Tata Steel (TISC.BO: Quote) said it was increasing prices of wire rod produced in the United Kingdom for April deliveries to account for rising raw materials costs and improved demand.

The price rise relates to wire rod produced at its Scunthorpe Rod Mill, the global steelmaker said on Monday.

Prices will rise by a minimum of 125 pounds ($201.50) per tonne, with some grades increasing by as much as 150 pounds per tonne, it said.(Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Jane Baird,sourced:Reuters)

Tata Steel Sells U.K. Plant to Sahaviriya

Friday, Feb25, 2011
By Andrea Hotter & Devon Maylie

Tata Steel Ltd. said Thursday its U.K. arm agreed to sell certain assets of Teesside Cast Products to a unit of Thailand's Sahaviriya Steel Industries PCL for $469 million as part of the Thai company's effort to ramp up production.

The plant was partially shut last February after four steel slab buyers pulled out of a joint 10-year contract. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of March and SSI said it plans to restart production by the end of the year.

SSI said it plans to spend $1 billion on the plant in the next two years, including the $469 million to buy the plant and $150 million to improve efficiency at the plant.

SSI, which has previously purchased slab from Teesside, intends to ship steel back to its own four million tons-a-year operation in Thailand and ramp output back up to 3.5 million metric tons of slab, which Teesside was producing before 2008.

"We buy from Brazil and Russia and the shipping distance is similar," said Win Viriyaprapaikit, president of SSI, adding many of the raw materials are also in the Atlantic basin so will be easy to ship to the plant.

"We are in discussions with several raw material suppliers to put in place a long-term supply agreement," he said.

SSI is also considering listing in the U.K., but Mr. Viriyaprapaikit said no decision had been made yet.

Thai lenders Siam Commercial Bank PCL, Krung Thai Bank PCL, and Tisco Bank PCL signed two credit facility agreements worth a combined $1.38 billion with SSI to support the purchase. Of the total, 23.9 billion Thai baht ($781 million) is a committed working capital and term loan facility for Sahaviriya and another $600 million is a facility for Sahaviriya Steel Industries U.K. Ltd., the bank said in a statement.
(sourced:online.wsj.com)

Dr Adam to be new commercial head at TATA Steel in Europe

Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011

TATA Steel announced that Dr Henrik Adam will be joining its European operations as Chief Commercial Officer from May 1st 2011.

Dr Adam joins the company after 13 years in a series of sales, marketing and technical roles with ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe.

In his new role he will be responsible for the sales and marketing organization of TATA Steel’s European business and for completing the implementation of the company’s new market differentiation strategies and customer sector focus in Europe.

Dr Karl-Ulrich Köhler MD & CEO of TATA Steel in Europe said "Dr Adam complements our enhanced customer focus. His background and wealth of experience in technically advanced products that require demanding sales, service, engineering and application support will be invaluable to our market sectors where product innovation and differentiation is critical."

Dr Adam said: "I am delighted to be joining the executive team of TATA Steel in Europe, which is a natural career progression for me. I look forward to helping the company move to a more differentiated product offer. This is something I have seen as a successful ambition through my experience of working with high performance niche products in sectors such as automotive and electrical steels."

TATA Steel raised reversing mill plate price by GBP 90 a tonne

Friday, 04 Feb 2011

TATA Steel had raised transaction prices for reversing mill plate by GBP 90 per tonne effective on all orders placed from February 1st 2011. The increase is the result of higher than anticipated international steel demand in 2010 and expected continuing demand growth this year.

Mr Paul Parkins commercial manager Plates for TATA Steel in Europe said that "All plate consuming industrial sectors are showing improvement and lead times from our mills are extending. Global production of steel in 2010 was 1.4 billion tonnes, an increase of 15% YoY, 50 million tonnes more than forecast. Industry analysts expect this growth to continue throughout 2011, with a further 6% increase in demand bringing production to 1.5 billion tonnes."

In addition, the rise in steel consumption and the recent extreme weather conditions in Australia and Brazil have led to higher spot prices for key inputs such as iron ore and coking coal. TATA Steel will continue to monitor the situation as the full impact on raw material availability and prices becomes clear.(sourced:steelguru)

Tata Steel Europe raises UK structurals prices $151/mt again for March

Friday, 28Jan, 2011

London: Tata Steel Europe said Friday it will raise the sale prices on structural sections in the UK by GBP95/mt ($151/mt), citing higher coking coal and raw material costs affecting the business.
Effective on all deliveries from March 6, the increase follows a GBP50/mt price increase the company announced late last year for the period starting January 2.
"The recent extreme flooding in Queensland has led to spot prices in coal and other raw materials markets, which were already suffering from chronic structural supply side constraints, to rise beyond anticipated levels," Mick Maloney, Tata Steel commercial manager for sections, said in a statement. "The steel supply chain has no choice but to take robust action to recover these rapid increases in raw materials costs."

Tata Steel said in December that lower inventories led it to make its prior price increase as it took action before an expected upswing in demand in the usually more active construction season starting at the end the first quarter. (sourced:Platts)

TATA Steel to double investments in European operations - CFO

Thursday, 20 Jan 2011

TATA Steel is set double its yearly investments in its European operations to increase productivity over the next couple of years.

The company made the announcement a day before its follow on public offer hits the markets.

Mr Koushik Chatterjee group CFO of TATA Steel said that "Our focus in Europe is on restructuring. We have been investing GBP 200 million annually so far. We will raise this amount to GBP 400 million to GBP 425 million per annum."

He said that investments would be both for improving productivity and other initiatives for TATA Steel Europe.

Mr Chatterjee added that the company's overall capital expenditure would be between USD 2 billion to USD 2.5 billion annually for the next 2 to 3 years. The money spent will be utilized for capacity expansion and other related expenses.

He said that TATA Steel hopes to raise about INR 3,500 crore through the follow on offer. Part of the money raised from the FPO will be used to reduce the company's USD 10.7 billion debt.

Mr Chatterjee said that "Around INR 1,000 crore of debt will be written off through this fund raising. These measures will enable us to effectively re balance the debt."

Sourced from BL

Big freeze adds pressure to TATA Steel Europe sales

Monday, 17 Jan 2011

This is Scunthorpe reported that the big freeze has had a knock on effect on sales from the TATA Steel works in Scunthorpe. Company chiefs have also blamed the ever soaring cost of raw materials for a near 8% drop in deliveries.
In the October to December period 2010, TATA Steel Europe recorded deliveries of 3.5 million tonnes from Scunthorpe and the rest of the business. That was nearly 8% lower to the corresponding quarter in 2009 and almost 1% lower than in the second quarter of 2010.
The product and delivery figures are subject to limited audit, but the company has warned it will not be able to maintain the financial improvements made in the first half of 2010-11.
A company spokesman said that "TATA Steel expects net sales for the third quarter will be flat compared to the second quarter. Due to the increased raw material experienced in the third quarter, TATA Steel further expects its operating results for the third quarter to decline somewhat in comparison to the second quarter."
The spokesman said that as well as higher prices for raw materials, the reduced apparent demand due to seasonal slow down had aversely affected margins within the company's European operations.
In December 2010, the Scunthorpe site director Mr Sean Lyons warned the town's 4,500 employees. He said that "Unfortunately the bad weather will only add further pressure to our financial performance, which isn't what it needs to be by a long way. The next quarter is very important for us, especially for the company's cash position, so we need to be careful in this regard. Hugely important for us in the long term is for us to focus on eliminating inefficiency and waste and for us to be sharing best practices across the sites and learning from elsewhere."
The impact of the worst winter in 50 years has also led to concerns among the town's employees over the level of quarterly production bonuses to be paid this month. The town's main steel union Community has called for a meeting with TATA to discuss the bonus issues.
National steel officer Mr Roy Rickuss said that "We understand this could be an issue at a number of sites across the UK and we are writing to TATA Steel management to find a way forward. We hope the company will recognize the efforts our members made to continue to work during the adverse weather."
Mr Lyons himself earlier acknowledged the spirit and determination shown by the town's steelworkers throughout the big freeze was nothing short of amazing.
Courtsey news by www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk