Engineering news
The government is considering all options for Tata UK’s Port Talbot plant after the company revealed plans to exit the UK, business minister Anna Soubry has told the media.
The government wants Tata Steel to take enough time to find a buyer for the plant, as it has done with its Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire plants, failing that options being considered include government support.
The Port Talbot site alone, which employs 5,500 of Tata UK's 15,000-strong UK workforce, is thought to be losing £1 million a day.
The Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones, has requested that the National Assembly be recalled to discuss the crisis.
Tata's restructuring decision, which was announced after a board meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday, will also affect workers at its other UK plants including Rotherham, Corby and Shotton.
Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the union Community, said the UK is on the verge of a national crisis. “Tata Steel withdrawing completely from the UK risks destroying our entire steel industry. That would be a disaster both for those communities reliant on steel jobs and our entire industrial base.
“For any advanced, manufacturing economy, steelmaking capacity is not optional. Losing the ability to make steel would fundamentally change our economy forever.”
He added: “Today, I am calling on David Cameron to meet with me urgently to discuss how his government and my union can work together to safeguard the future of our steel industry. Community stands ready to play our part in averting that national crisis – the prime minister must now stand up and play his role too.”
Meanwhile, Dr Adam Marshall, acting director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, added: “Assuring domestic production of steel is hugely important to the UK’s future growth prospects, and to our aspirations for the manufacturing and construction sectors, which are having a hard enough time in an uncertain global market as it is.
“The price the UK pays for dependence on overseas suppliers is often high, particularly in manufacturing and energy. There’s nothing wrong with being part of global supply chains, but there is something very wrong with losing domestic production and skills in a strategically-important industry. The loss of steelmaking would leave the UK vulnerable to global shocks, with dangerous consequences across the economy.”
Marshall added: “The mistakes made in the nuclear industry decades ago must not be repeated in the steel industry today. There is a clear case for further government action to protect British steelmaking capacity, as it underpins so much of British manufacturing and construction. Our global competitors would not hesitate on an issue like this.”
In a statement issued early on the 30 March, the government said: “This is a difficult time for workers in Port Talbot and across the UK. During the review process, we remain committed to working with Tata and the unions on a long term sustainable future for British steel making.
“Both the Welsh and UK governments are working tirelessly to look at all viable options to keep a strong British steel industry at the heart of our manufacturing base.”