Tata Steel open to more investment in Port Talbot in the future

Tata Steel has told MPs it would consider additional future investment in its Port Talbot plant if more government funding was made available.

Tata's restructuring plans involve cutting 2,800 UK jobs and installing an electric furnace using recycled steel.

Chief executive TV Narendran said: "The electric arc furnace need not be the end - it is the beginning."

The Welsh government's Economy Minister Vaughan Gething called his comments "encouraging"

Earlier steel unions said more money should be spent on securing the future of the UK steel industry.

The company has announced it will close both blast furnaces in Port Talbot, the UK's largest steelworks, by the end of 2024.

But, addressing the Welsh Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, Mr Narendran said that "if there is funding available" for greener ways of making steel in the future, Tata would discuss it.

Later, Mr Gething told the committee: "I was pleased to hear the headline that what Tata have said that if there was more investment that there could be a different conversation about what the future could look like.

"I think that at least in itself is encouraging."

Tata has said it is currently losing around £1m a day from its operations in the town, and Mr Narendran said keeping a blast furnace open on the site, and making steel from scratch, would lose the business a further £600m.

In his questioning Stephen Kinnock accused Tata Steel of bluffing when it persuaded UK ministers to agree to pay £500m towards its future plans.

The Labour MP for the constituency of Aberavon, which covers Port Talbot, said: "I put it to you that when you threatened the British government, which it sounds like you did, you would close completely.

"I don't actually believe that was the case.

"If that is correct... then it was not a choice between total closure and 8,000 job losses. It was a choice between your plan and the multi-union plan which would have actually saved 2,500 jobs."

Mr Narendran replied: "The reason why we take the community seriously is the reason why we have done all that we've done for 15 years.

"But you must appreciate that Tata steel is a listed company... Somewhere, we want to be as reasonable as possible to all stakeholders, but we don't want to be seen as irresponsible to some stakeholders at the cost of the others."

"When you're losing more than a million pounds a day, to say that you don't have a plan, and you will continue to fund these losses, on an ongoing basis puts us under pressure from other stakeholders."

Tata has committed to investing £750m of its money in the new electric arc furnace in Port Talbot, with support from the £500m government subsidy.

Later, Welsh Secretary David TC Davies told the committee Tata would get the money "in instalments, as an arc furnace is built, to save 5,000 jobs - £500m to save 5,000 jobs".

He said that a transition package of £100m was also being put together to support people losing their jobs - £80m from the UK government and £20m from Tata.

"As chairman of that board dealing with the £100m, I want to make sure that every single person who faces the loss of their job is given all the help and support that they need to find other work".

The Unite union told the committee the £500m subsidy was "not adequate" to support the industry and maintain virgin steel making in the UK.

Answering a question from Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter, Nick Kardahji from the Unite union said: "The amount of money that the government is putting in is not adequate. It's not comparable to what other countries are doing".

"This is a far too important strategic asset for us to allow it to be lost simply because inadequate funding was put in place," he said.

He added: "We think there's a role for the government to take a stake in the plants as well potentially that should be being considered as well. Again, the need to retain virgin steel production in the UK is too important to be left to the decisions of one multinational company".

Later, Welsh Economy Minister criticised the £100m fund to retrain workers made redundant, warning it "won't be anything like enough" money.

"Is £100m going to be enough if you see those jobs going within the next 18 months?" he asked.

"My concern is it won't be anything like enough, if you do see that level of eye watering job loss."

Steelworkers protested in Westminster on Wednesday ahead of the committee meeting.

"If we lose the blast furnaces it's a massive impact on our country," said 36-year-old James Nichols, who works at Tata's Trostre plant in Llanelli.

Mr Nichols said he's upset by the way potential job losses are being handled and months of rumours about what might happen have been very difficult.

"Tata have held this over our heads for the last three or four months", he said. "They haven't made a decisive decision".

Also employed at the Trostre steelworks is Steve Jones. He said he attended the demo "to stand in solidarity for our boys in Port Talbot".

Tata workers are "perplexed" by what's happening, he said.

"The mood is one of uncertainty. We're not sure what's going on."