Engineering news
Up to 500 jobs are set to be axed at three steel factories, including Scunthorpe, because of weak demand in the construction industry.
Tata Steel said the cuts will affect mainly management and administrative roles at sites in Scunthorpe, Teesside and Workington. About 340 jobs could be affected in Scunthorpe, 90 in Workington and 40 in Teesside.
The job losses are the latest in a series of cuts made since the Indian conglomerate bought Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus in 2007 for £6.2 billion. Last year the firm cut 900 jobs mainly at its Port Talbot site in South Wales. In 2011 it axed 1,500 jobs from its Scunthorpe, Teesside plants and its Lackenby Beam Mill and Skinningrove Long Products' sites.
The company said the latest cuts at Scunthorpe were being made amid a prolonged downturn in demand for some of the key products made by its Long Products business, including the UK market for construction steel, which is about half of 2007 levels.
Karl Koehler, chief executive of Tata Steel's European operations, said: "European steel demand this year is expected to be only two-thirds of pre-crisis levels after falls in the past two years.
"On top of the challenging economic conditions, rules covering energy and the environment in Europe and the UK threaten to impose huge additional costs on the steel industry.
Jon Bolton, director of the Long Products operations, said: "UK demand for construction steel has fallen further since we launched an improvement programme at our Long Products business in 2011. This further market decline means we must now build on the work we have been doing to restore Long Products' ability to compete throughout the economic cycle.
"Today's proposals will help us build a more sustainable business. I know this will be a difficult and unsettling time for affected employees and their families. This action, unfortunately, cannot wait if we are to remain a vital foundation industry supporting the UK's manufacturing and construction sectors."
The company said it will make every effort to achieve the job losses through voluntary redundancies, adding that a comprehensive range of redundancy packages and outplacement support services will be made available to those who leave.
Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Community union, which represents many workers in the steel industry said: "We are obviously very concerned to hear this news and are doing all we can to support those affected by the announcement.
"We recognise the business has been dealing with a downturn in some of its markets for the past five years. Nevertheless, today's news once again reflects the fragile state of our economy and the lack of any real impetus by government to support our manufacturing base.