Tata Steel Ltd. lost more than £1 million per day in the United Kingdom last year, the company’s annual report for 2018-19 shows.
The Indian steelmaker, which runs the U.K.’s largest steelworks at Port Talbot in South Wales, lost £371 million in Britain in fiscal year ended March 31, 2019, due to lower production. That’s higher than the £222 million loss it reported in 2017-18, according to British newspaper The Sunday Times.
According to Tata Steel’s annual report for 2018-19, the company’s turnover from its U.K. plant rose 1 percent to £2.4 million, but the production fell from 3.6 million tonnes to 3.2 million tonnes after one of the two blast furnaces was shut down for maintenance. Tata Steel spent £56 million during 2018-19 to extend the life of the blast furnace at Port Talbot by up to seven years.
“The losses for Tata Steel UK, disclosed in its annual report, come as the industry struggles to forge a future,” The Sunday Times said in the report. “Tata has spent the past few years unwinding its top-of-the-market £6.2 billion takeover of Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus in 2007.”
Tata Steel’s hopes for a turnaround in its European unit collapsed after the European Commission blocked the unit’s merger with Thyssenkrupp AG.
While admitting that the proposed joint venture was an important strategic initiative for the company to create a sustainable portfolio in Europe, Tata Steel had stressed that it would explore all options to achieve similar outcomes in the future.
Tata Steel is one of Europe's leading steel producers, with steelmaking in Netherlands and the U.K., and manufacturing plants across Europe.
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