Traditional steelmaking in Wales ends as Tata close final furnace in Port Talbot
ITV Wales journalist Kate Lewis reports from Port Talbot.
Port Talbot's era as a traditional steel-making town has come to an end following Tata Steel's shutdown of the plant's last blast furnace.
It marks the end of primary steelmaking from raw materials in Wales, and will trigger the loss of up to 3,000 jobs across the UK.
Tata confirmed on the evening of Monday, 30 September, that the last last iron to be produced at Port Talbot had been "tapped" - the process of removing molten iron from the blast furnace.
Plumes of white steam could be seen being vented from the furnace for the last time just after 5pm on Monday, signalling the end of an era for a town with a steelmaking history going back more than 100 years.
Tata had announced at the beginning of the year that it would close down both of its blast furnaces before a transition to a much greener way of making steel, by building an electric arc furnace at the site.
The first blast furnace produced its last load of steel on 4 July, with the last furnace being shut down on 30 September.
Up to 3,000 job losses
Tata's decision to cease primary steelmaking in Port Talbot will result in around 2,500 UK job losses, followed by another 300 in three years.
The company says it plans to build an electric arc furnace on the site which would make steel by melting scrap rather than using raw materials.
Around 1,900 of those jobs lost will be from Port Talbot, with the business' restructuring largely involving the iron and steel-making assets.
While some Tata employees have already left the business, the majority of the 2,500 affected across the UK are set to leave by Christmas, with some leaving by the end of March 2025.
Jobs at Llanwern, Newport, are set to be cut by around 40 roles – from 510 to 469.
Around 30 roles will be affected in Shotton, Flintshire, where more than 400 people will still be employed. There will be no change to staffing levels in Trostre, Llanelli.
Tata says more than 2,000 people across south Wales expressed an interest in voluntary redundancy, although an official figure on those who were successful is yet to be released.
Going forward, around 2,000 workers are expected to be employed by Tata in Port Talbot, including a decommissioning team and a project team.
'Historic moment' as final blast furnace shuts down
Tata had informed the community in Port Talbot of potential noise increases as it conducted decommissioning and de-pressurising work.
Works manager Dean Cartwright told ITV Cymru Wales in the days before the shutdown: "We shouldn’t underestimate it. It’s a very historic moment for me and many others too.
"One of the challenges we've had is it’s hard to motivate and retain people when they see the end is in sight. That has been difficult and we’re still managing through that process.
"We're currently managing the transfer of a lot of engineers, production and technical staff and operatives, from this current operation. Some are leaving on voluntary redundancies and some are being mapped across to the new organisation and building the electric arc."
He added: "I’ve said many times we’re talking about the whole shutdown and it's not a celebration but we are recognising the historical importance of the closure, of conventional ironmaking here in Port Talbot.
"It is sad and it is the end of an era... and there’s apprehension about what the future will bring. But at the moment, everybody’s focused on the job in hand, and maybe Tuesday we’ll take a step back, a look back, and I think there’ll be a few sad moments when we come off on Monday too."
Why is Tata moving to an electric arc furnace?
Tata Steel outlined two major factors behind the decision to move to a greener future.
The first was to offset financial losses, with the steel giant saying it saw losses of around £551million during the last quarter of 2023.
The company also said it wanted to turn to greener methods of steelmaking in a bid to reduce its UK CO2 emissions by five million tonnes per year and reduce the "overall UK country emissions by about 1.5%".
What have the unions said?
Responding to the planned closure of Blast Furnace 4, Community Union General Secretary Roy Rickhuss CBE said: "Today marks an incredibly sad and poignant day for the British steel industry and for the communities in and around Port Talbot which are so intricately connected to blast furnace steelmaking.
"It's also a moment of huge frustration - it simply didn't have to be this way. Last year Community and GMB published a credible alternative plan for Port Talbot which would have ensured a fair transition to green steelmaking and prevented compulsory redundancies. Tata's decision to reject that plan will go down as an historic missed opportunity."
He added they will support workers in every way they can including through the employment and skills Support Centre "in the heart of Port Talbot, in partnership with the Welsh Government".
Funding
The Labour UK Government announced in September that they would be making a £500million investment to help the transition towards greener steelmaking, with Tata also pledging a £700m investment to the project.
The government's deal remains largely unchanged from the previous Conservative government's plan to invest £500m in the Port Talbot plant.
However, the current UK Government says under the new arrangements, in order to maintain the investment, Tata Steel will have to commit to delivering redundancy payments and future training opportunities.
Political reaction
The UK Government is determined to back Welsh steelworkers, the Secretary of State for Wales has said.
Jo Stevens MP said: "This is an extremely difficult time for the all the workers, their families and the wider community affected by Tata’s decision to close its remaining blast furnace at Port Talbot.
"This government will support those affected and it is why within weeks of taking office we secured a better deal which secures the future of steelmaking in Port Talbot, lays the foundations for future investment and enhances protections for the workforce.
"We have also quickly released millions of pounds of funding from the Transition Board to support businesses and workers. Applications for that funding are now open and more will follow very soon.
"This government is determined to back workers and businesses in our Welsh steel industry whatever happens."
Meanwhile, Welsh Government economy secretary Rebecca Evans MS said it will continue to do everything it can, alongside UK Government and Neath Port Talbot partners, to "support workers, suppliers and the wider community as the industry transitions to provide a new future for steel production in Wales".
She said: "Today will be a sad and significant day for so many as we witness the end of a long and proud history of primary steel production in Wales."
Welsh Conservatives Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said the loss of traditional steelmaking in Wales "is yet another blow to our cultural and industrial heritage", adding: "We have to ask ourselves if our industrial strategy is really working in our favour, and level the playing field in favour of our communities".
Plaid Cymru claim the Conservatives and Labour share the blame for the lack of an industrial strategy.
Plaid Cymru's economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher MS has called the closure a "tragedy", saying: "During the General Election, Labour promised a better deal for the Port Talbot steelworks. Today, the second of its two blast furnaces shuts down. This is more than just a factory closing – it’s the end of Welsh steelmaking and the livelihoods of countless workers and families.
"The decline of our steel industry is a direct consequence of successive governments failing to develop an industrial strategy. They neglected to acknowledge that without a strong steel sector, the car industry, shipbuilding, and heavy manufacturing are all doomed to fail.
"While other nations recognised the vital importance of domestic steel production and actively subsidised it, the UK chose to privatise and sell our steel assets to foreign entities, making us reliant on imports."