Tata Steel's Europe chief exec Karl Koehler steps down

The European chief executive of Tata Steel, Karl Koehler, will step down from his role to take up a senior leadership position with a large privately-owned industrial company in Germany.

The steel producer said Koehler will remain available to the company for a short period in an advisory capacity.

Koushik Chatterjee, group executive director and member of the boards of Tata Steel and Tata Steel Europe, will take on the role of executive director for Europe in addition to his current responsibilities.

Meanwhile, current chief technical officer for Europe Hans Fischer, will be appointed CEO and will join the board of Tata Steel Europe with effect from 1 March.

Karl Koehler said: “I am pleased that an individual with the experience and caliber of Hans Fischer will be taking over the role of chief executive officer. I believe the new leadership of Tata Steel Europe will continue the journey of making the company stronger in the challenging times the European steel industry is facing.”

The news comes a month after the company said it would cut up to 1,050 jobs at its UK operations, which included around 750 at its plant in Wales, as it looks to combat the flood of cheap Chinese imports.