The owner of Port Talbot steelworks has confirmed that its two blast furnaces will shut down, in what unions have condemned as an “absolutely devastating” blow that will cost up to 2,800 jobs directly and many more in the south Wales community.
Port Talbot’s parent company, the Indian-owned Tata Steel, said it was not “feasible or affordable” to adopt trade union proposals to continue production at the loss-making plant during a transition to greener, cheaper steelmaking operations.
