Tata-Thyssenkrupp JV deal: Steeled for growth

Tata Steel's joint venture with Thyssenkrupp goes some way towards solving the endemic problems of its European operations

Ever since Natarajan Chandrasekaran took charge of the Tata group, there has been a noticeable change in the mood and focus of the senior management at Tata Steel. Perhaps for the first time since the $12-billion acquisition of Corus in 2007, terms like “inorganic growth”, “rapid growth” and “aggressive growth” are being heard at the Jamshedpur operational headquarters.
 
For the most part after Tata Steel outbid Brazil’s CSN for the Anglo-Dutch steel major, Tata Steel’s European business, especially the UK, has been a problem child, what with narrowing spreads between raw material and finished steel prices and cheap Chinese