Coke ovens set to close at Port Talbot
With ongoing discussions and confusion over the closure of Port Talbot steelworks, promises seem to have been broken early doors as its been revealed coking plants will close on Wednesday. Jobs may be at risk over the decision, but TATA have said it was made due to the condition of the ovens and ‘operational stability’.
Transcript
00:00 Tata Steel and the Welsh Government have been in discussions for months over the possible
00:06 closure of Port Talbot Steelworks. Up to 2,000 adrent jobs could be lost as part of Tata
00:11 plans but the Welsh Government has offered other plans which could save more jobs. No
00:17 official plans have yet been finalised but there have been assurances from Tata that
00:21 changes will be made in the future and will remain open for the time being at least. That
00:27 though has not happened and Tata announced plans to close coking ovens as early as this
00:32 week. The company have said it is due to operational stability as there have been question marks
00:36 over the conditions of the ovens for some time. Up to 200 jobs could be affected and
00:40 uncertainty surrounding the jobs continues. Unions have said they were aware the ovens
00:47 were closed at some point in the transition period but now want assurances as many jobs
00:51 as possible will be saved. As of now, up to 1,000 redundancies are planned for this year
00:56 with more to come in the future.
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