Tata Steel halts operations of coke ovens at Port Talbot plant in UK
Upstox
2 min read • Updated: March 19, 2024, 12:28 PM
Summary
Tata Steel said that the unit's closure decision was taken due to deterioration of operational stability. Tata Steel, however, will raise coke imports to offset the impact of the cease of operations of coke ovens at Port Talbot plant in the United Kingdom.
Tata Steel shares fell as much as 1.4% to hit the day's low of ₹147.6 apiece on the NSE after the global steel giant announced its decision to shut its coke ovens unit at the Port Talbot plant in the United Kingdom.
In an exchange filing on Monday after the market hours, the company said that the decision followed a deterioration of operational stability. Tata Steel UK will now raise its coke imports to offset the impact of the coke oven closures.
"As a further update on its operations in the UK, Tata Steel UK has decided to cease operations of the Coke Ovens at the Port Talbot plant, in Wales, following a deterioration of operational stability," the company said.
Earlier, Tata Steel had said that many of its heavy-end assets at Port Talbot unit were at their end-of-life capability.
Meanwhile, the company is currently at an advanced stage of talks with trade unions in the UK on its proposal for the planned restructuring. The proposed closure of the iron and steelmaking assets at Port Talbot and subsequent transition to sustainable low-CO2 steelmaking, involving a £1.25 billion investment in Electric Arc Furnace technology in Port Talbot and asset upgrades, is a part of the planned restructuring exercise by the company.
In January this year, Tata Steel announced the closure of Port Talbot's two blast furnaces and coke ovens, after consideration of an alternative proposal from the UK trade unions' representative body and their advisor.
The company agreed to adopt parts of the proposal but said that continued blast furnace operation was neither feasible nor affordable. The transition was expected to result in up to 2,800 potential job losses across the businesses.
Tata Steel, with an annual crude steel capacity of 35 million tonnes per annum, is one of the world's most geographically diversified steel companies. The company has operations and a commercial presence across the world.
At 12:20 pm, Tata Steel shares were trading 0.4% lower at ₹149 apiece on the NSE.