Huge job losses as Tata closes Welsh furnaces

Tata Steel has confirmed it is cutting 2 800 jobs across the UK and closing both blast furnaces at its site in Port Talbot in south Wales.

The blast furnaces are to be replaced by an electric arc furnace (EAF), which uses scrap metal. The company and the UK Government have been accused of allowing an over-reliance on imported steel. Environmentalists say more should have been done to prepare the local area for the change and to secure new green jobs.

Tata Steel ceo TV Narendran says the company has to build a sustainable business in the UK for the long term.

‘Our ambitious plan includes the largest capital expenditure in UK steel production in more than a decade, guaranteeing long-term, high-quality steel production in the UK and transforming the Port Talbot facility into one of Europe’s premier centres for green steelmaking.’

‘No alternative‘

The UK government is contributing £500m (EUR 582 million) towards the £1.25bn cost of the EAF with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying the alternative was the entire Welsh plant being closed.

Around 2 500 of the jobs will be lost over the next 18 months, according to Tata, with most of the job cuts expected in Port Talbot. The blast furnaces will both close during this year with the EAF not due to come into operation until 2027. Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford says the Welsh government ‘will do all it can’ to support those affected.

Tata’s proposal to overhaul the steelworks could lead to a 1.5% cut in the UK’s overall carbon emissions but that doesn’t take account of emissions abroad when imported steel is made.