Port Talbot management in 'steelworks takeover bid'

China's steel production is 'unsustainable', an expert has told ITV News.

Steel has driven China's industrial revolution but the economy is slowing and China's appetite for steel has waned.

Global demand may have fallen but China's factories are producing steel in record quantities. Prices have collapsed and the effect is being felt in Wales.

China strategist Andrew Leung said: "The whole thing is unsustainable. If you look at the prices and the input that steel can make... Manufacturing is now geared towards more innovation and high quality manufacturing that doesn't necessarily depend on steel."

ITV News Business Correspondent Joel Hills reports:

Four generations of one family have worked at Port Talbot but now one of them has told ITV News how they must contemplate an end to the generational ties with the industry.

Graham Rowlands has told ITV News about the "low morale" at the plant after the announcement of job cuts.

Mr Rowlands has worked at Port Talbot for 37 years has told ITV News about the "low morale" at the plant after the announcement of job cuts.

Mr Rowlands - whose grandfather, his father and also his son also have worked at the plant - said it would be "very difficult" for workers but they were "still trying their best" in the midst of uncertainty over the future of their jobs.

ITV News has been given an updated breakdown of the job losses:

• 637 jobs at Port Talbot
• 113 jobs to be cut from Llanwern
• 200 across UK in support functions. This could include head office staff, sales, marketing and hr jobs.
• 100 job cuts across three mills in Trostre, Corby, Hartlepool

ITV News Correspondent Emma Murphy reports:

Security officers have cut down and removed union banners outside the Tata Steel site in Port Talbot, Wales.

The banners, which said "Save Our Steel" and "Save Our Communities", were put up on a fence outside the steelworks as 1,050 job cuts were announced, including 750 at Port Talbot, on Monday.

But ITV News producer Lucia Walker said they were removed moments later by security.

The Prime Minister has said the announcement of more jobs losses at Tata Steel is "very sad news".

David Cameron said the Government will work with Tata to get people the help they need and continue to do everything it can to support the steel industry.

"I want to have a strong British steel industry at the heart of our important manufacturing base," he said.

Fresh job cuts at Tata Steel would be "another body blow" to the industry, the director of trade association UK Steel has said.

Gareth Stace told ITV News further job losses, which would mean the size of Tata's UK workforce has reduced by nearly 3,000 in the past six months, would be "really critical" for the sector.

"It sets the scene that this isn't the end of the crisis and perhaps it's only the beginning," he said.

"Unless we see much more significant action from government then we're going to see more and more job losses go on and on until actually, potentially we don't have a steel sector based here in the UK."

Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said the proposed Tata Steel job losses are a "severe blow" to Port Talbot and the local economy.

"Workers and their families at the plant face a deeply worrying time, and our priority is to help those likely to be affected," said Mr Crabb.

"The UK Government will keep doing what it can to support a steel industry suffering intense pressures from cheap steel imports and a global slump in prices. That involves working with Tata to ensure they remain a significant presence in South Wales."

The latest jobs cuts at Tata Steel are "deeply disappointing", small business minister Anna Soubry said.

Following Monday's announcement of 1,050 job losses, she said: "The steel industry is having to take tough decisions in the face of extremely challenging conditions but this is deeply disappointing news.

"Our immediate focus will be on working with the Welsh Assembly to support workers in South Wales as well as other Tata UK sites to find new jobs as quickly as possible.

"The Government continues to engage closely with Tata on how we can help during this difficult period.

"The Government has taken clear action to help the industry, through cutting energy costs, taking action on imports, Government procurement and EU emissions regulations, meeting key steel industry asks."

Labour accused the Government of "sitting on their hands" amid the growing steel crisis.

Responding to the latest jobs cuts at Tata Steel, shadow business secretary Angela Eagle called for urgent action by the Government and the EU Commission.

“This is devastating news for all of the workers, their families and the close-knit communities affected," she said.

“Labour has long called for David Cameron’s government to take immediate action to help the steel industry, but they’ve sat on their hands while the industry has descended further into crisis.

“Only by taking immediate and decisive action, not least by fully engaging at an EU level, can the Government make sure our steel industry survives so that it can benefit from planned infrastructure spending. If this doesn’t happen urgently, the Tories’ laissez-faire attitude to our steel industry could lead the downturn into a death spiral."

Tata Steel has confirmed it is cutting 1,050 jobs at sites across Britain.

The company said the proposed cuts follow "continued falls in the European steel price caused by a flood of cheap imports, particularly from China".

Karl Koehler, Chief Executive of Tata Steel’s European operations, said: “I know this news will be unsettling for all those affected, but these tough actions are critical in the face of extremely difficult market conditions which are expected to continue for the foreseeable future."

• 750 jobs are to be cut at Port Talbot in Wales
• A further 200 will go in support functions
• And 100 jobs will be cuts at steel mills in Trostre, Corby and Hartlepool

Tata, which cut 1,200 jobs at sites in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire in October, is Britain's largest remaining steel producer. Monday's announcement means the size of its UK workforce has reduced by nearly 3,000 in the past six months.

Steelworkers’ union Community has called for immediate "meaningful" government action and urged Tata Steel to make clear its "long-term" commitment to the UK steel industry as the firm prepares to put more than 1,000 out of work.

Tata is expected to announce 750 jobs will go at the Port Talbot steelworks and 300 will be cut at steel mills in Llanwern, Trostre, Corby and Hartlepool.

• Steel crisis: Should Britain be standing up to China?