Tata Steel UK may lose 2,800 jobs as it pushes ahead with a green transformation of its business

Recently, Tata Steel UK said that in order to reverse more than 10 years of losses and transition to a more sustainable green steel business, the company will cut jobs at its integrated steel mill in Port Talbot, South Wales, the United Kingdom, which is expected to affect up to 2,800 employees, and said that about 2,500 jobs will be reduced in the next 18 months.

Under the plan, the two blast furnaces and coke oves at Tata Steel UK's Port Talbot plant will be shut down in phases, with the first blast furnace to be shut down in mid-2024, the remaining heavy terminal assets to be phased out in late 2024 and the Continuous Annealing Treatment Line (CAPL) to be shut down in March 2025.
The transformation of Tata Steel UK will ensure production capacity for most of the company's existing products and maintain self-sufficiency in steelmaking in the UK. It will also reduce the company's CO2 emissions by 5 million tonnes per year, helping to reduce the UK's overall carbon emissions by about 1.5% compared with what they would have been otherwise.
It is reported that the transformation cost of Tata Steel UK's Port Talbot steel plant is as high as 1.25 billion pounds (about $1.586 billion), of which the British government has pledged to invest 500 million pounds (about $634 million) to support the transformation plan, and Tata Steel Group will also invest 750 million pounds (about $950 million) to support its transformation. These include a comprehensive support program for affected employees, as well as redundancy provisions, skills training, community support programs and job seeker programs.
T.V. Narendran, chief executive and managing director of Tata Steel UK, said: "The route we have proposed is difficult to implement, but we believe it is the right one. Since 2007, we have invested nearly £5 billion ($6.344 billion) in our UK operations. We must accelerate our transformation to build a long-term sustainable business in the UK. Our ambitious plans include ensuring Tata Steel's sustainability in the UK and transforming the Port Talbot plant into one of Europe's most important green steelmaking centres."