Steel Mills
CRU: Tata Steel looks to shed 1,600 jobs in the Netherlands
Written by CRU
April 11, 2025
Against the background of a tough market, Mumbai-headquartered Tata Steel is to consult with worker representatives about plans to cut around 1,600 management and support jobs at the IJmuiden works in a restructuring of its Dutch operations. Unions say they are stunned.
The company said, “The challenging demand conditions in Europe driven by geopolitical developments, trade and supply chain disruptions and escalating energy costs have affected the operating costs and financial performance.”
“Tata Steel remains committed to ensuring that its Netherlands operations achieve their potential of being one of the most competitive, successful and efficient in Europe. In order to achieve this, Tata Steel Nederland has adopted a comprehensive transformation programme built on a multi-pronged approach of maximising production efficiencies, lowering fixed costs and optimising product mix and margins.”
The company pledged it will conduct an effective and comprehensive consultation process with the central works council in the coming weeks about the proposed changes.
Union leader Hans Korver described the announcement as a bolt out of the blue. “We were particularly surprised by the scale of the cuts,” the AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
A union federation, FNV, said it did not understand Tata’s restructuring, adding, “There are no detailed plans. They only thing created now is chaos.”
In a stock market filing announcing the planned changes, Tata Steel highlighted that IJmuiden came close to achieving crude steel production capacity of 6.75 Mt/y in the financial year ending March 31 after a delayed blast furnaces reline the previous fiscal year.
The company also said it still plans to replace IJmuiden’s two blast furnaces with a direct reduced iron (DRI) plant and electric arc furnace (EAF) by the decade’s end. Tata Steel’s CEO and managing director of Tata Steel T V Narendran said, “We are working closely with the Dutch government and other stakeholders and are in constructive discussions about our joint investments in the green steel plan going forward.”
This article was first published by CRU. To learn about CRU’s global commodities research and analysis services, visit www.crugroup.com.
Latest in Steel Mills
AISI: Raw steel production backs off multi-year high
US raw steel output edged lower last week after hitting a multi-year high in mid-June, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Private equity firm Atlas Holdings to acquire Evraz North America
Atlas Holdings said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Evraz North America (Evraz NA). The Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm said it expects the deal for the Chicago-based steelmaker to close in the second quarter of 2025 subject to various closing condition.
Granite City Works must remain open and other terms of the Nippon-USS deal
SEC documents also name Trump specifically as having veto power certain decisions are part of the “Golden Share” provision.
USS shuffles some leadership roles after close of Nippon deal
USS shuffles leadership deck after deal closes with Nippon.
ArcelorMittal fires up steelmaking at Calvert mill
With the marking of the EAF’s first heat earlier this month, the mill has moved from a rerolling and finishing mill to a full steelmaking facility.