Tariff war delays breakeven for Tata Steel UK

Tata Steel's plans to turn around its loss-making UK operations have been delayed by at least six months due to global trade disruptions and the spillover effects of US tariffs, the company's top executives said in an interview.

- Dipali Banka & Nehal Chaliawala

Despite the setback, the executives expressed confidence about the company's broader international strategy, including securing Dutch government support to decarbonize its Netherlands operations, and defended its capacity expansion plans in India amid global concerns of steel overcapacity.

India's second-biggest steelmaker by capacity had earlier guided for an Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) break-even in the UK by the end of the second quarter of FY26. The new target is the final quarter of this fiscal year.

In its April-June quarter results announced on Thursday, Tata Steel reported that its UK operation's Ebitda loss narrowed to £41 million in the June quarter of this fiscal compared to £80 million reported in the last quarter of FY25.

The company's chief executive officer T.V. Narendran said while there was a delay in achieving Ebitda breakeven due to the direct and indirect effects of the tariffs announced by US president Donald Trump, the company was moving in the right direction.