Mumbai Aug 1 (IANS) Tata Steel UK on Tuesday said it has completed the sale of its 42- and 84-inch pipe mills in Hartlepool to Liberty House Group.
The sale covers the 42-inch and 84-inch pipe mills also known as the Submerged Arc Weld (Saw) mills where about 140 employees manufacture pipeline for gas and oil projects around the world.
"As a responsible seller it was important for us to find the most sustainable future for the 42- and 84-inch pipe mills. With this sale the company completes its portfolio restructuring to focus on the strip products supply chain linked to Port Talbot " said Bimlendra Jha CEO of Tata Steel UK.
The two mills are fed with steel plate sourced from outside Tata Steel so the mills were independent of the company s strip products supply chain.
The steel producer will retain its 20-inch tube mill at the same Hartlepool site which makes tubes for a range of markets including construction infrastructure and machinery the company said in a statement.
"Further strengthen the 20-inch mill the company will be making a 1 million-pound investment to increase its capability to make high-strength steel tubes. The 20-inch mill is supplied with steel coils from its European steelworks and is part of its strip products supply chain " it said.
The company claimed that it would continue to be the largest steelmaker in Britain following the sale of the 42- and 84-inch pipe mills. Employing almost 8 500 people it will manufacture advanced products for sectors like automotive and construction.
The steel producer has invested more than 1.6 billion pounds since acquiring steel company Corus in 2007.
--IANS
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