Tata Steel to sell long products unit in Europe.

Tata Steel has announced plans to sell its European long products division seven years after first stepping into the European steel market, as it sharpens its focus on the more lucrative and larger strip products division.

The company is in talks with the Klesch Group, a Geneva-based industrial house focused on oil, chemicals and metals, and has signed a memorandum of understanding to carry out due diligence and negotiations for the potential sale of the division, which is largely centred in Scunthorpe, Northern England.

The sale was being considered because the group intends to focus on being a strip steel player, Karl Koehler, CEO of the group’s European operations, said in a conference call from Scunthorpe. A sharper focus was necessary to help create a “competitive” base, he added.

HBL