South Wales – Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant, the largest steelworks in the UK, has, for almost a century, stopped production officially, leading to a very critical day in the country’s economic and industrial sector. The shuttering is anticipated to cause nearly 3,000 job cuts and affect thousands more in the region of South Wales through the steel industry supply chain.
A spokesperson confirmed with sky news, that the last iron had been “tapped” – the process of removing molten iron from the blast furnace.
Rajesh Nair UK’s Chief Executive in his tearful email to the staff admitted the importance of the day and said it would be a “difficult day” of “great emotion and reflection”. On the part where the company is making the shift towards the green steel production path, the plant will be shut down including its Blast Furnace 4 which is the last and the only rightfully running one.
However, £1.25bn will be the cost of the project with £500m being given by the UK government, and this has been met with the grave concerns of the job losses, which will almost affect about 3/4 of the workforce.
The blast furnace is scheduled to be fully shut down by 5 p.m. today, with the final batch of steel having been produced late Monday evening. Despite the closure of the blast furnace, the Port Talbot site will not shut down entirely. The plant will continue operating its hot and cold strip mills to roll steel slab imported from abroad. Tata Steel plans to introduce a more environmentally friendly electric arc furnace by 2027/ 2028 thanks to its investment in “low-CO2 ‘green’ steel”, offering a “brighter, greener future” that will use UK-sourced scrap steel, signalling a future for green steelmaking in the UK.
Tata Steel’s statement on the closure acknowledged the historic importance of Port Talbot in the UK’s iron and steel industry. The company expressed confidence in a “brighter, greener future,” forecasting that the new technology would sustain over 5,000 jobs and provide Tata Steel businesses across the UK with a competitive advantage.
However, unions representing the workers at Port Talbot have expressed frustration and disappointment over the closure. Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary of the Community Union, which represents most of the steelworkers, called it an “incredibly sad and poignant day.” He criticized Tata Steel’s rejection of an alternative plan proposed by the unions, which aimed to protect jobs and facilitate a fair transition to greener steel production. “This will go down as an historic missed opportunity,” Rickhuss stated.
In light of the impending job losses, the Welsh government announced a £13.5 million fund to support businesses impacted by the transition.
Despite Tata Steel moving forward with its investment in low-carbon steel plants, the closing of the blast furnace will mean the end of an era for Port Talbot which the town was built on steel production. As the UK Government gets ready for the public release of a new policy on the future of steel in the summer, lots of workers and communities in different places will have to deal with major losses that can be caused by the steel industry.