Britain’s largest steelmaker is to mothball a plant in south Wales as tough markets persist, forcing the company to focus on higher-value products.
Tata Steel said that it would redeploy employees at its plant in Llanwern, Newport, which makes strip products used in cars, construction, domestic goods and packaging. However, there have been reports that the company will cut 250 jobs.
The move to suspend production comes one month after Tata said that it might eliminate up to 720 British jobs, mainly at Rotherham, in a revamp of its speciality and bar business, which has been hit by cheap imports and high energy costs.
“In the past year, we have also been making positive improvements to our manufacturing capability,” Stuart Wilkie, director of Tata Steel’s Strip Products UK business, said. “But surging — and often unfairly traded — imports have combined with a strong pound to create a very challenging business environment,” he added.