During the fourth quarter of 2020, SSAB announced that it was in discussions with Tata Steel concerning a possible acquisition of the IJmuiden steel mill and related downstream assets. However, due to sustainability concerns, the company has pulled out of the deal.

“We have carefully evaluated Tata Steel IJmuiden and have concluded that an acquisition would be difficult for technical reasons. We cannot be sufficiently certain that we could implement our industrial plan with the preferred technical solutions as quickly as we would wish. We cannot align Tata Steel Ijmuiden with our sustainability strategy in the way desired,” says Martin Lindqvist, President and CEO at SSAB.

“The synergies that we saw in the transaction would not fully justify the costs and investments required for our desired transformation. This means that overall, the transaction would not meet our financial expectations,” he adds.

On a statement on its website, Tata Steel Europe commented: ” Tata Steel confirms that SSAB has withdrawn its initial interest for Tata Steel Netherland business. However,  Tata Steel wishes to confirm that it is committed to arriving at a strategic resolution for its European portfolio. Tata Steel’s IJmuiden plant is among the most environmentally efficient and cost competitive steel producers in Europe.

Currently, around two third of the business of Tata Steel is based in India with best in class, highly cost competitive assets and strong cash flows and Tata Steel remains committed to undertake significant de-leveraging in FY21 and beyond.