Erdemir ‘not interested’ in British Steel

ISTANBUL

Turkish steelmaker Ereğli Demir Çelik (Erdemir) has dismissed recent media reports suggesting that the company made an offer for the acquisition of British Steel.

“As Erdemir, we state that this claim is unrealistic and our company has no relationship with the company in question,” the company said in a filing with Borsa Istanbul on July 14.

British Steel, Britain’s second largest steel producer was put into compulsory liquidation on May 22 after Greybull Capital, which bought the company from Tata Steel for a token one pound three years ago, failed to secure extra funding to continue running it.

Erdemir, which is part of Oyak Group, the country’s armed forces pension fund, is among the largest steel producers in the world.

In the first three months of 2019, the company produces 2.4 million tons of liquid steel, a 1.3 percent decline from a year ago.

Net sales revenues of the steel maker stood at $1.33 billion while Erdemir posted a net profit of $186 million for the first quarter.

In January-March, the company used as much as 98 percent of its crude steel capacity, according to a March presentation.