No plans to sell Teeside plant in UK, says Tata Steel

Tata Steel, today said that operations at its Teeside factory in England is going on as before and the company does not plan to sell its stake (in Teeside) to Italy's Marcegaglia and South Korea's Dongkuk.        

"Operations are on just now at Teeside as before. There is no question of selling the plant to them now," Tata Sons Director J J Irani, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.

Tata Sons is the holding company for all Tata group companies.

Tata Steel, had, earlier, said that it might have to suspend operations at its Teeside plant after a consortium which included Marcegaglia and Dongkuk, cancelled a major contract.

Irani said that prices of hot roll coils were likely to stabilise in the $375-400 per tonne range.

"I, personally. Would be very happy to see the prices (of H R Coil) stablise in the range of $375-400 per tonne," Irani said.        

In China, H R Coil prices have been in the same range for almost a year, Irani said, adding, "I think China is a great influence on the international market."        

Presently, prices of H R Coil are between $400-420 per tonne.