Dutch merger fears
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Karen Miles Nervousness hit the steel haulage market this week with the announcement that British Steel plans to merge with Dutch rival Hoogovens.
British Steel is streSsing that the hoped-for deal means "growth, not retrenchment" but hauliers close to the market fear the move will bring an influx of cheap Dutch hauliers.
This week it was unclear what a merger would mean for Bridgend-based Canine Transport, which carries out much of British Steel's work in south Wales. A spokesman for British Steel says it is "far too soon to talk about any of those operational issues".
He denies the future of Hanwern steel works is threatened by the move, saying there are "no plans" as a result of the merger to close any plants.
Carline carries 8,000 tonnes a day domestically for British Steel and its managing director Richard Brown says he is "cau
tiously optimistic", expecting an increase in British Steel's UK market share with a slight fall in its exports.
The merger still has to get the go-ahead from shareholders and the competition authorities, but if successful the new business could be under way by Christmas. British Steel produces 11.9 million tonnes of metal a year in the UK, while Hoogovens has one steel and aluminium plant near Amsterdam.
"We will be outbid by the foreigners who can run more economically on cheap diesel. They've already thrown out so many people who had been working there for so many years," says Lynne ApOyard, director of Cardiff-based Omega Transport, which had already stopped working for British Steel.
Last summer British Steel awarded its contract for the Shotton steel plant in Durham to two hauliers—Carline and Faber Prest Steel Distribution. They subcontracted work to smaller operators but six went Out of business, claiming that rates had been cut.
• See feature, next week.