This is not about creating a giant. It's about creating the sustainability of the steel industry.

When I think about parallels between myself and an Olympian, I believe that success in the world of business is underpinned by very similar principles of perseverance and hard work.

A strong player, which has the sufficient critical mass, can withhold pressure better and create a more stable environment that benefits shareholders as well as employees.

The danger, though - and there have been signs of this recently - is that Europe begins to demonstrate a return to more nationalist sentiment. To my mind, that would be a great mistake.

We have experienced highly challenging global market conditions in the past quarter with significant steel price decline in all regions.

We have no intention of shutting down plants. We have always said there will be no redundancies or lay-offs as a result of this merger.

In the past twenty years, we have lived through several cycles and we have always managed to buy under good terms and conditions at the right time. This has enabled us to build a solid group that is now the world number one.