Some of the Tata Steel UK team and customers at this year’s UK Metals Expo

As I emphasised in our last e-shot, the support you’ve extended to us as we’ve made the transition to the reroller business model has been invaluable. We are so privileged to have a relationship with our customers that’s based on open, clear communication – and we look forward to continuing to work closely with you as we move into 2026.

It’s certainly been a very eventful 12 months. Even the most experienced industry observers did not predict the extent of the trade measures which have come from all quarters. Although we’re fortunate, comparatively-speaking, that US tariffs have been set at 25%, the recent announcements by the European Commission that it would reduce existing import quotas to 2013 levels, whilst doubling out-of-quota tariffs to 50%, remains an open challenge for the whole industry. The positive point to remember is that the UK remains an important trading partner with the EU - whether that’s in terms of imports or of exports. We remain confident the UK Government will find a workable and win-win solution, but in the meantime, we continue to urge the Government to use all its available resources to negotiate a favourable outcome for the UK steel industry. We know some customers are also working on this. And during a recent visit by our teams to Blechexpo in Stuttgart, it became clear in our many interactions that our industry has a bright future that we can look forward to.

Laura Baker (Director of Sales Automotive & Engineering), Tony Waite (Director Substrate Procurement and Markets Business Development & Customer Services), Mike James (Account Manager), Jamie Hillier (Account Manager), Alex Chang (Senior Account Manager) at Blechexpo 2025

The other major development is, of course, CBAM (the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) which takes effect in the EU from 1 January 2026. Tata Steel has been preparing for this for several years and we expect our careful selection of substrate source to put us in a better position than had we chosen alternative third-country supplies.

Meanwhile, in line with our principles of being a learning organisation, our commercial teams are equipping themselves with some of the latest IT tools, including Salesforce and Nexus with AI, so they can make faster and more informed decisions to support our customers. Please continue to demand better products and service offerings from us! Your requests act as extra motivation for us to push the boundaries to excel further.

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, along with continued growth in the energy transition sectors including solar power and wind, we see two bright spots in the current market: data centres and defence. As Tata Steel UK, we’re uniquely well-positioned to offer our varied product portfolio to meet the needs of all of these industries. And more broadly, whichever sector you’re operating in, we hope you see expansion in 2026. Your growth is our growth!

With these thoughts, I’ll leave you to dwell on the best memories of 2025, and take the opportunity to wish you and your teams a happy festive period over the coming weeks.