LONDON: The UK government today said it would provide £500 million to fund the production of “greener” steel at the country’s biggest steelworks but that 3,000 jobs were still at risk.
The Mumbai-based conglomerate had threatened to shut the giant plant unless it received state aid to help decarbonise production and cut emissions. “Without this investment we would probably have seen the end of steelmaking certainly in this part of the country, possibly the whole of the UK.” As well as climate fallout, the steel sector has seen costs soar amid surging energy prices over much of the past 18 months in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But it warned that the plans for Port Talbot would lead to talks about a “deep potential restructuring” as the changes are implemented, prompting concern from local politicians and unions.