Tata Steel was not already strong and still gets a blow, says Roel Berghuis, former employee and trade unionist at Tata Steel. “The financial buffer of Tata Steel IJmuiden has recently disappeared and the earning capacity is currently negative.”
Tata Steel also has to green for a lot of money and the company hopes for government subsidies. Whether the steel factory will get that money is just the question, Berghuis knows.
Even more steel competition
They cannot have an economic setback, says economist Rens van Tilburg. “The steel market is already unstable. China produces way too much, the demand is low. Tata was already having a hard time, and now this is coming on top.”
He wonders how long Tata will make it. “They get little support from the parent company in India. How many hits can they still collect?” Moreover, he expects competition to increase further: “Not only Tata, but also Chinese steel producers are hit by these taxes. Their steel has to go somewhere, and that means even more pressure on the European market.”
While the uncertainty in the workplace is growing, Berghuis looks at politics. “The Dutch industry needs a solid support pillar. Keep waiting is not an option.” Reason for ninety Tata employees to go to last week Brussels to travel, and to argue for a stronger European industrial policy.
And now? Heinis sighs. “We are waiting for the content of the measures. Until then, as colleagues, we continue to talk well with each other. But the real answers must come from above. From The Hague, from Brussels.”