Tata Steel says it will press ahead with plans to return its Port Talbot steel plant to profitability regardless of who forms the next government.
The India-based company was responding to media reports that Labor hoped to turn around the UK’s biggest steel company if it won on July 4th.
Tata confirmed in April almost 2,800 papers would in a transition from so-called virgin steel to more environmentally friendly steel.
The two labour-intensive blast furnaces would be shut down by September and soon replaced with cleaner electric arc technology under an investment of £1.25 billion.
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It contains a £500m support package from the government to support the transition and the wider local community, which currently relies on the wider South Wales region for employment.
Tata said the long-term future of steel production at Port Talbot would be put at “significant risk” if the subsidy was withdrawn.
As unions continue to outline plans for industrial action, the company said: “We wish to inform you that (Tata Steel) confirms that it will continue with the announced closure of the heavy assets and restructuring program at Port Talbot in the coming months. .
“We urge and request the current and next post-election government to comply with and safeguard the agreed terms of the £500 million support package for the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) project announced in September 2023.
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“This project is designed to ensure the production of high-quality, low-emission steel in Port Talbot, preserving primary steel production in Great Britain and creating the potential for a future green production cluster in South Wales.
“Port Talbot’s current heavy assets are reaching the end of their useful life, are operationally unstable and are resulting in unsustainable financial losses.
“The coke ovens, a critical facility for primary steel production, had to be closed in March 2024 as operations became unviable and unsafe.
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“Therefore, the company is required to continue with its plans to decommission Blast Furnace No. 5 at the end of June, followed by the decommissioning of Blast Furnace No. 4 by the end of September.”
Tata estimated its financial losses at £1 million per day.
On Monday, senior Labor Party figures, including Welsh shadow secretary Jo Stevens, urged Tata to wait for a possible Labor government next month so that further negotiations can take place.
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On a visit to the Port Talbot factory, Stevens called on the company to delay the closure of all blast furnaces and urged Tata to adopt a union plan for one furnace to be left running while a transition to green steel production takes place.
“What we have always told Tata is: please don’t take any irreversible decision before the general elections,” she said.
“We want them to look at the union plan again, we want to talk to them. They know we have our green steel fund ready to go. It will be there to support Welsh steelworkers and steelworkers across the UK to ensure a transition softer for decarbonized steel.”
Alasdair McDiarmid, joint general secretary of the community union, said: “It would be wrong for Tata to make irreversible decisions before the elections.
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“Once again, we urge the company to engage with the Labor Party and trade unions to consider alternatives to protect jobs.”
Tata’s relations with the Community, Unite and GMB unions are tense as each has pledged support for industrial action that could lead to strikes in the future.
Unite members must begin banning overtime and “working to rule” within a week.
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