Tata Steel employs around 15,000 staff in Britain

Highlights The UK government has urged Tata to allow time to locate a buyer

Analysts are sceptical on prospects of a sale any time soon

Tata Steel employs around 15,000 staff in Britain

Tata Steel's decision to exit operations in Britain has put 15,000 jobs on the line and British Prime Minister David Cameron will hold an emergency meeting of key ministers today to find a solution to the crisis.1) Tata Steel, which operates Britain's biggest steel plants, has put up its cash-bleeding business for sale and said it cannot promise to keep the plants open while it seeks a buyer.2) Speaking about its decision to sell the UK business, Koushik Chatterjee, group executive director of finance and corporate of Tata Steel, told NDTV Profit, "There has been a rapid deterioration in performance in UK in last 12 months, impacted by the currency, imports and muted market." ( Watch 3 ) The British government has appealed for time to save the country's biggest steel maker. Business Minister Anna Soubry said the government is prepared to look at all options - including nationalisation - to save thousands of jobs4) The Mumbai-headquartered Tata Steel has been losing 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) a day in its UK operations and posted a hefty loss of Rs 2,127 crore in the quarter ended December 31, weighed down by its European operations. Its share price has nearly halved in the past five years.5) Its move to sell its UK business comes less than three months before Britons vote on the country's membership of the European Union in a referendum dominated by concerns about the economy.6) The move could have an impact on Britain's closely fought June 23 vote over whether to stay in the EU. Industry leaders have blamed the European Union for preventing London from taking greater steps to protect the steel industry.7) Britain's steel industry has been hit hard by cheap Chinese imports, which have depressed prices, and manufacturers have asked the government and the European Union to impose anti-dumping duties.8) Analysts are sceptical about Tata Steel finding any buyer soon. "Any buyer for the entire business would need to be both an eternal optimist and have very deep pockets, given the continuing fall in demand for steel," said Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell.9) Tata Steel's problems in Britain arose almost as soon as it bought Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus in 2007 for $13 billion, just before the global financial crisis. Despite heavy investment, the company struggled to turn around its European operations.10) Tata Steel is the second-largest steel producer in Europe. It has a crude steel production capacity of over 18 million tonnes per annum in Europe, but only 14 million is operational. Two of its three main European units, Port Talbot and Scunthorpe, are in Britain, with the rest in the Netherlands. (With Agency Inputs)