Tata Steel has secured permission from the Dutch government to restart operations at its Ijmuiden mill on a trial basis for four weeks from August 5, weeks after production was halted following a criminal investigation into alleged harmful emissions.
“We have just got the approval to run it for four weeks starting August 5. Hopefully the data that we generate through that production will help us get the permission to run it beyond that,” Managing Director and CEO TV Narendran said at the company’s earnings call on Friday.
Tata Steel seeks policy certainty in Netherlands
The Ijmuiden mill, which accounts for around a fifth of Tata Steel Netherlands’ output, has remained largely idle since early April after heightened regulatory scrutiny over emissions.
The development comes even as the company said future investments in the Netherlands would depend on greater regulatory certainty, policy support and a social licence to operate.
Responding to FE’s queries on the future of its European operations, Chief Financial Officer Koushik Chatterjee said Tata Steel was not evaluating alternative locations within Europe for its decarbonisation plans. However, he said investments require three key enablers — government funding support, policy support and market support — alongside certainty around the local regulatory framework.
Company seeks equal treatment in Europe
According to Chatterjee, while the broader European Union framework supports decarbonisation through carbon pricing, the Netherlands presents additional regulatory challenges. These include the classification of slag, which is treated as a by-product in most European countries but is being reclassified as waste in the Netherlands, creating additional compliance requirements.
Narendran said the company also needs a social licence to operate before proceeding with any major investment. “If you do not have a social licence to operate, even if the IRR is 30%, you will not put money there,” he said, adding that Tata Steel was seeking a level playing field with the rest of Europe before taking an investment decision.
Earlier this month, Dutch prosecutors summoned Tata Steel’s local unit over alleged environmental violations. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for November 20.