Tata's Port Talbot Steelworks has moved back into profit, after a rise in global steel markets and efforts of record production by workers. A news report said the company which was on the verge of shutdown, made a profit of £5m in June.
A spokesman for steelworkers' union community said, "UK steelworkers are helping turn the tide in this steel crisis, but their biggest challenges may still lie ahead. Thousands of families are still in the dark about their future and what Tata has planned for the business." A spokesman for Tata said, "If Theresa May is serious about having an industrial strategy, she should start by making sure that Britain's steel industry not only survives this crisis, but gets the investment it needs for a sustainable, profitable future. We don't disclose financial results beyond our normal public reporting. The management team and the employees in the UK are continuing to work hard to improve the underlying performance of our UK business."
Port Talbot Steelworks was put up for auction in March, and last month, Tata confirmed it was also exploring a merger of its European operation, with German steel giant ThyssenKrupp.
Liberty House is vying for the pipes business in Hartlepool and the speciality businesses in south Yorkshire. If Tata and ThyssenKrupp do merger it would be months before any agreement is reached. And a question would be whether they would be prepared to share confidential data on their respective businesses, with concerns that if a deal isn't reached they would have mutual insight into their strengths and weaknesses.
The bidders that emerged in the sales process, overseen by KPMG, have not walked away despite the emergence of a potential Tata tie up with ThyssenKrupp. And with huge primary steelmaking capacity in Holland and Germany, the UK and Welsh governments no doubt seek long-term assurances for the future of primary steelmaking at Port Talbot [from a Tata Europe merger with ThyssenKrupp] before agreeing to any financial support, or the introduction of new legislation to address the current £700m in deficit British Steel Pension Scheme.
