Tata Steel is to axe 900 jobs and shut a dozen plants in the UK in a bid to cut costs after it revealed it had tumbled into the red earlier this month.
The majority of jobs, 500, will go at Tata’s Port Talbot plant in South Wales and will include management and administrative staff as well as blue-collar workers.
Tata, the former Anglo Dutch group Corus which was created from British Steel, said that another 80 jobs would go in Wales, 155 in Yorkshire, 120 in the West Midlands and 30 on Teesside.
It said it had been hit by a four-year decline in demand for steel across Europe, which had been particularly harsh in the UK. Karl Köhler, chief executive of European operations, said: “These restructuring proposals will help make our business more successful and sustainable, but the job losses are regrettable and I know this will be a difficult and unsettling time for the employees and their families affected.
“We will be working with our trade unions and government at a national and local level to ensure we provide them with as much assistance and support as possible.”
Sites to close include Tafarnaubach and Cross Keys in South Wales, while shift levels at the company’s Rotherham and Hartlepool plants will be reduced to match production to lower demand for bar products and pipelines
