Tata Steel to close two blast furnaces at Port Talbot, to cut 2,800 jobs

London: Tata Steel on Friday said it will shut down its two blast furnaces at the Port Talbot plant in South Wales in the UK, resulting in 2,800 job losses, as part of its effort to make its operations greener.

The steelmaker will commence statutory consultation on the proposed restructuring plan and support arrangements for affected employees, Tata Steel said in a statement.

“This plan is intended to reverse more than a decade of losses and transition from the legacy blast furnaces to a more sustainable, green steel business.

“The transformation would secure most of Tata Steel UK’s existing product capability and maintain the country’s self-sufficiency in steelmaking, while also reducing Tata Steel UK’s CO2 emissions by 5 million tonnes per year,” the Indian steelmaker said.

Tata Steel will replace the two blast furnaces at the plant with electric arc furnaces under the plan to reduce emissions and costs.

With the closure of both blast furnaces at the Port Talbot plant, related facilities such as coking ovens and the steel shop would also be shut

down.