Deeside MP challenges Tata Steel bosses on the future of steel-making in Port Talbot

Alyn and Deeside MP Mark Tami challenged Tata Steel bosses over the proposed closure of its two primary steel-making blast furnaces in Port Talbot.

The move, part of Tata Steel’s broader strategy to pivot towards more sustainable steel production in the UK, threatens nearly 3,000 jobs at the site.

During a Welsh Affairs Committee meeting on Wednesday Tata Steel’s global chief executive, TV Narendra, and Tata Steel UK CEO, Rajesh Nair, faced scrutiny.

They were questioned alongside trade union representatives and officials from both the UK and Welsh governments, following last month’s announcement by Tata Steel.

The company plans to shut down the blast furnaces by the end of summer, replacing them with an electric arc furnace (EAF) — a project partly funded by a £500 million government subsidy, with the goal of having the EAF operational by 2027.

In the interim, Tata Steel has indicated plans to import carbon-intensive steel from India, a stopgap measure that has drawn criticism from various quarters, including the Labour Party.

Labour has attacked the UK government’s agreement with Tata Steel, suggesting it falls short of a genuine, long-term commitment to the UK steel industry.

They propose an alternative £3 billion investment in green steel production that promises to secure jobs through the transition.

Mr Tami raised his concerns with the Tata Steel bosses about the length of time an EAF will take to build in practice and the possible impact of continued imports of carbon intensive steel from overseas. 

He argued that “importing steel from halfway round the world, rolling it, taking it back up to Shotton and shipping it out again, is not a green footprint longer term”.

In response, the global chief executive of Tata Steel, TV Narendra, assured MPs that the company wants to build the EAF as fast as they can and that plans to import primary steel are only “temporary”.

Mr Tami raised similar concerns with the UK Government earlier in January. 

The Deeside MP said: “the plans would make us the first developed country in the world to have no primary steel making capabilities. By importing primary steel from India, while UK steelworks are decarbonising, we are simply exporting those carbon emissions elsewhere in the world.

“It is yet another sticking plaster from a government living crisis to crisis unable to take a long-term view. While the Conservatives scramble around for last minute deals, Labour will make long term investments through our industrial strategy to protect British jobs, safeguard our national capabilities and create jobs rather than throw British steelworkers on the scrapheap”.