According to media reports, Indian steelmaker Tata Steel has decided to assess alternative countries instead of China to supply some major steelmaking inputs due to the coronavirus issue and the US-China trade dispute. The decision has been made to avoid risks related to the supply chain from China.
“We reviewed the situation arising in China due to the virus outbreak in the initial weeks. While we do not depend on China as a market for steel, we do source some of our consumable items from it. We are thus trying alternative supply sources in places like Turkey and Brazil,” managing director and chief executive officer of Tata Steel, T V Narendran said.
He stated that their operations have not been affected and they are comfortable with their supplies until April this year, while he noted that the coronavirus has had less impact on Europe except for Italy.