On June 30th, local time, German industrial giant Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel, a subsidiary of India-based Tata Group, formally signed a merger of their steel business in Europe and established a 50% joint venture company. The joint venture was named Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel B.V., which will become the second largest steel company in Europe, second only to ArcelorMittal. The joint venture company is expected to have an annual turnover of EUR17 billion, an annual shipment of 21 million tons, and employ about 48,000 employers.

Thyssenkrupp stated that the two sides will jointly build a high-quality steel company across Europe and make it a leader in the quality and technology of the global steel industry. According to World Steel Association statistics, ArcelorMittal ranks the largest steel company in Europe with a production capacity of 97.03 million tons in 2017 and is also the world's largest steel company. Tata Steel ranks 10th in the world with a capacity of 25.11 million tons, and ThyssenKrupp ranks 29th in the world with 13.22 million tons.