Tata Steel Defended Decision to Cut Jobs at Port Talbot

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Tata Steel chief defended the company’s decision to cut thousands of jobs at Port Talbot. He denied the claims that the company could have averted the tough move, especially after receiving £500m in support from the government.

Addressing MPs on Wednesday, T.V. Narendran, Global Chief Executive, Tata Steel said that the decision to close two blast furnaces at the south Wales steelmaking facility was mainly due to steep losses incurred by it at the steelworks. The plant operations had reported loss of £160 million during Q4 last year, he noted.

The Port Talbot blast furnaces are expected to close by the end of summer this year. These will be replaced with electric arc furnace. The switch will require fewer workers, thus resulting in thousands of redundant jobs. On the contrary, the move is expected to drastically reduce carbon emissions.

Narendran stated that the UK government is unlikely to cover the huge losses and that its shareholders have already started raising concerns over the huge amount spent on the plant over the past several years.

Meantime, several unions, including Community, GMB and Unite criticized the company’s decision and demanded that the blast furnaces be kept open for longer. The union representatives urged the company to wait for the extra funding as promised by Labour. However, Narendran responded, saying that the company would require more details on Labour’s plans.