Liberty appeals to the UK to embrace steel recycling as Tata poised to reveal bidder shortlist
Despite persistent rumours that Indian steel giant Tata will hold onto its UK steel operations, the most vocal bidder, commodities trader Liberty House, isn't giving up.
Sanjeev Gupta, the chief executive of Liberty House, has recorded a video to try and convince Tata and the government that Liberty's plan for Port Talbot and other UK steelworks is viable.
It was previously reported Tata is expected to hold onto the business due to bidders not being able to offer assurances they would be able to keep the steelworks open for more than three years.
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According to Tata the sales process is on-going but it would not comment further. It's thought the company is working towards a deadline of 24 June to announce a buyer, said to be only coincidentally the day after the UK votes in the European Union membership referendum.
Tata announced it would try to sell off its entire UK steel business – including the Port Talbot steelworks – in March, putting thousands of UK jobs at risk.
Last month the company off-loaded its Scunthorpe plant to turnaround specialists Greybull Capital.
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It's thought that Tata is on the verge of revealing a shortlist of bidders in a move that would reportedly go against UK government lobbying for it to keep the business.
Liberty's plan for Port Talbot and the rest of Tata's UK steel business involves converting some blast furnaces to so-called electric arc furnaces that can recycle existing steel.
Liberty House claims this is similar to steps taken by the US in the 1980s to keep their industry competitive – with 70 per cent of US steel consumption now coming from recycled materials.