Britain's largest steelmaker, Tata Steel has revealed plans to mothball a plant set in south Wales due to tough markets that are pushing the company's focus on higher-value products. It said it would redeploy employees at the plant in Llanwern, Newport, which makes strip products used in autos, construction, domestic goods and packaging, although British press reports said the company would cut 250 jobs.
The move comes merely a month after Tata said it may cut up to 720 British jobs, mainly at Rotherham in northern England, to revamp 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 in a statement. “But surging, and often unfairly traded, imports have combined with a strong pound to create a very challenging business environment.”
UK steel sector has shrunk dramatically in recent years amid challenges like poor post-financial crisis demand growth, over-capacity, high labour and energy costs and more recently, rising imports and a strengthening currency.
