Tata Steel Europe boss says Europe industry 'through the worst'

REUTERS - Europe's steel industry is "through the worst", Tata Steel Europe Chief Executive Karl Koehler said on Wednesday, after announcing the company's planned sale of its European long products division. "I believe that we are through the worst here in Europe," he said on a call with reporters. "The demand expectation is that the apparent steel use in Europe will grow 3 to 4 percent, so yes, demand is growing. In our case, the turn has been taken and the signs going forward is that this picks up." He added the Tata Steel operations being put up for sale were "close" to breaking even. Earlier, Europe's number two steel producer said it was in talks to sell European operations including mills in northern England and Scotland to Geneva-based Klesch Group. The World Steel Association earlier this month forecast growth of 4 percent for the European Union in 2014. (Reporting By Clara Ferreira-Marques in LONDON and Aman Shah in MUMBAI; editing by Susan Thomas)