Port Talbot To Cut Thousands Of Jobs As Tata Shuts Down Blast Furnaces

(Bloomberg) -- Tata Steel is set to announce the shutting of blast furnaces at its UK operations alongside thousands of job cuts.

The Indian steelmaker will reveal a final decision on the Port Talbot site in Wales on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. The company reached a deal earlier this year with the UK government for £500 million ($607 million) in funding to install an electric arc furnace at the site.

That would involve closing the blast furnaces at the site, resulting in 3,000 job cuts across Tata’s operations in south Wales, according to one of the people. The EAF will only be installed in approximately three years, and Tata has touted the prospect of importing steel to feed its downstream units in the interim.

Tata’s UK operations have struggled for years to turn a profit in the brutally low margin steelmaking industry. Mills across the continent have faced low demand for the metal due to the economic slowdown, as well as competition from Asian imports. 

A spokesperson for Tata Steel in India didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

--With assistance from Swansy Afonso.

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