The Hindu Business Line : Tatas more bullish on Corus synergy

Mumbai April 17 As the Tata-Corus integration process gathers momentum, the domestic steelmaker is now more bullish on the synergy potential of the merger than it was when it inked the agreement.

"We expect the synergies to have higher valuation than the earlier $350 million per year indicated earlier," Mr B. Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, said here on Tuesday.

Teams deployed

Tata Steel has formed around 15-18 teams consisting of three to four members from both the companies each to work on various potential synergies. By May-end, the teams will wrap up working out specific areas of synergy and the long-term strategic issues would be closer to the conclusion.

Teams have been deployed to work on synergies in the areas of manufacturing, procurement of consumables, logistics, marketing, iron and steel making.

The companies will share information and know-how and best practices to develop efficient practices, which will aim at cost reduction.

The company is bullish on the price of its commodity due to continued demand from China. "The demand outlook is healthy," said Mr Muthuraman.

It was learnt that Corus had urgent requirement for steel slabs as a part of their contract obligation. However, Mr Muthuraman denied rushing into any such works, as there was no need to call for such priority. "There is no need to rush slabs there. We aim to improve what is existing there in terms of procedures, cost and quality," he said.

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