Tata chairman calls for steel business to become 'self-sustaining'

There are fresh questions over the future of the Tata steelworks at Port Talbot, after the company's chairman called for the plant to become "self-sustaining".

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Natarajan Chandrasekaran questioned whether the company could keep funding losses at its steel operations.

Last year Tata Steel made losses of over 370 million pounds. In November the company confirmed that it would be cutting 1000 jobs at its steel-making plants in the UK.

The plant in Port Talbot produces nearly five million tonnes of steel slab every year and is one of the largest steelworks in Europe.

It employs about 4000 workers with many more in the supply chain.

In 2016, the plant's future was thrown into uncertainty when Tata announced it would be put up for sale.

But it was handed a reprieve when it was agreed to close the pension fund with the unions until 2022.

But with job losses already looming, Mr Chandrasekaran's remarks will do nothing to calm fears of further cuts in the future.