THE chief executive of Tata Steel, which is selling its plants in Llanwern, Port Talbot and across the UK, has said the firm would not be doing so if it was making money.

Bimlendra Jha appeared before a meeting of Westminster’s Business Select Committee today, Thursday, where he said there were “structural weaknesses” in the UK.

Mr Jha told MPs there was an “accelerated” timescale for the sale. Although no specific deadline had been set, he said the company could not continue to “bleed” indefinitely.

"We would not be selling the business if we were not losing money," he said.

The high cost of energy in the UK has been frequently cited as one of the main reasons for the crisis, and Mr Jha told MPs if prices were the same as in Germany the firm would be £40m better off.

Business secretary Sajid Javid said Tata had told the government in February it was “seriously considering” closing its UK operations. He said his focus from that point had been to convince the firm to give as much time as possible to find a buyer.

When asked by committee chairman Iain Wright why he had not travelled to Mumbai for a meeting of Tata’s board on March 29 – when the decision was taken – Mr Javid said at the time he did not believe a decision to immediately close the plants would be taken.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Tory MP said: "This is a big economic challenge for the country.

“I don't want to live in a country where we have to import all our steel.

"For the thousands of steelworkers and their families and friends affected by this, the message is that we are doing everything we can."