Europe: Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a European steel company by merging their flat steel businesses in Europe and including ThyssenKrupp’s steel mill. The proposed 50:50 joint venture will have its headquarters in Amsterdam and will be able to supply around 21Mt/yr of flat steel products.
“The Tata Group and ThyssenKrupp have a strong heritage in the global steel industry and share similar culture and values. This partnership is a momentous occasion for both partners, who will focus on building a strong European steel enterprise. The strategic logic of the proposed joint venture in Europe is based on very strong fundamentals and I am confident that ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel will have a great future,” said N Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Steel.
The merger will create the region’s second largest steel producer after ArcelorMittal. Cost synergies of up to Euro600m/yr are expected through the integration of commercial functions, research and development and other supporting activities. In addition to this, ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel would seek to improve capacity utilisation of the network across the three hubs of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands, Duisburg in Germany and Port Talbot in the UK and their related downstream facilities.
