Tata Steel UK has announced that it has reached an agreement to sell its Clydebridge and Dalzell steel facilities in Scotland.
The deal involves the sale of the two plants to the Scottish Government, which would then sell them on to commodities trader Liberty House.
The agreement follows Tata Steel’s announcement in October 2015 that it would stop its European plate production, which led to the mothballing of the Dalzell and Clydebridge plants at the end of last year.
Rather than closing the facilities, Tata Steel has continued to maintain them to enable plate production to potentially restart in the future.
Executive chairman of Tata Steel’s Long Products Europe business, Bimlendra Jha commented: “We welcome this deal which opens the possibility of a resumption of steel processing in Scotland.
“This has been achieved with the determination and support of employees, trade unions and the Scottish Government all working together.”
Business Minister Fergus Ewing said: “When Tata Steel mothballed the Dalzell and Clydebridge plants, I said we would leave no stone unturned in the quest to find an alternative buyer.
“That is why we established a Scottish Steel Task Force and why I am delighted that our support for the steel industry has paid off. Liberty has a proven track record in the UK steel industry and has ambitions to make these plants viable and successful.”
“Liberty has a proven track record in the UK steel industry and has ambitions to make these plants viable and successful. It’s a huge tribute to the caliber of the highly skilled workforce, and the efforts of everyone on the Task Force, that Liberty recognise the tremendous potential of Scottish steel.”
The Dalzell plate mill transforms a semi-finished steel slab into a steel plate, while the Clydebridge facility processes steel plate using a quench and tempering technique.
The agreement secures the two Scottish plants while Tata Steel continues to negotiate the potential sale of the rest of its Long Products Europe business to Greybull Capital.
