Tata Steel to cut around 20% of Dutch workforce

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Tata Steel on Wednesday said it will cut around 1,600 jobs in the Netherlands, in a drive to increase profitability amidst fierce competition from China and rising U.S. import tariffs.

The move will cut Tata's Dutch workforce by roughly 20%, mainly at the large steel plant at IJmuiden, on the coast west of Amsterdam.

Tata said the reorganisation would mainly hit management and support staff in IJmuiden with the aim of centralising its organisation and making it more efficient.

The Dutch division reported a loss of 556 million euros ($613.05 million) in the year through March 31, 2024, as it was hit by high energy prices and competition from cheap imports from China.

The company is now also facing larger tariffs on its exports to the United States.

The company is also struggling to reduce the pollution caused by its plant, which authorities have said makes the life expectancy of people living close to it 2.5 months lower than the average for the Netherlands.

The IJmuiden plant is among the largest polluters in the country and Tata has been in talks with the Dutch government for months over subsidies to help it clean up production processes.

One of the pillars under these talks, however, is guarantees demanded by the government over employment, FNV labour union spokesman Cihan Lacin told Reuters.

"This announcement is not in line with the discussions about Tata's future," Lacin said. "It is incomprehensible."

($1 = 0.9069 euros)

(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Editing by Louise Heavens, Elaine Hardcastle)