A report yesterday by Reuters claims that Tata Steel in the Netherlands – widely known as Tata Steel Europe and based at Ijmuiden in the Netherlands – is planning to cut around 1,600 jobs as a direct result of fierce competition from China and President Donald Trump’s latest round of import tariffs.
According to Reuters, the move will cut Tata's Dutch workforce by roughly 20%, mainly at the large steel plant at IJmuiden.
Tata Steel said that management and support staff would bear the brunt of the cuts as the aim was to centralise the organisation and increase efficiencies.
A quick look at the figures shows that Tata’s Dutch division reported a loss of 556 million euros ($613.05 million) in the year through to 31 March 2024, largely because it was hit by high energy prices and competition from cheap Chinese imports, the Reuters report claims.
There are also longstanding pollution problems linked to the Ijmuiden facility which lowers life expectancy of residents close to the plant by 2.5 months when compared with the average for the Netherlands.
Reuters claims that the IJmuiden plant is among the largest polluters in the country and that Tata has been in talks with the Dutch government for some time over subsidies to help it clean up its production processes.
The Dutch government, however, wants guarantees on employment, according to FNV labour union spokesman Cihan Lacin who was speaking to Reuters.
"This announcement is not in line with the discussions about Tata's future," Lacin said. "It is incomprehensible."
Source: Reuters.