How is Tata Steel responding to the financial crisis?
We have responded at a tremendous pace to our European operations. In Europe and the US, the demand has been very severely affected. India hasn’t (been hit) to that extent. The response is different in different places. But the overall plan is to cut cost, enhance productivity and see how to use the environment to respond to the crisis. Fundamental to all this is (our) focus on maintaining liquidity. What is the liquidity position? We have $1.8 billion in cash and undrawn lines. Given that raw material prices have dropped significantly, where do you see margins for the next year? The group is different in terms of configuration. In India, we have 100 per cent captive iron ore and 60-70 per cent coking coal, a very different business model compared with 100 per cent purchased iron ore and coal in Europe. We have been looking at the cost-price equation in Europe. In a converter model, the increase in cost has typically been passed on to the consumer; that has been the trend for a couple
