The steel industry is of huge importance to Wales. We tend, for obvious reasons because of the number of jobs to focus on Port Talbot.
Tata Steel UK ‘s Port Talbot Steelworks, employs directly some 4,000 workers and an estimated further 4,000 indirectly in the supply chain, is one of the main employers in Wales.
There is a much broader significance to the company. It is extremely important in Llanelli, part of the region I represent, with 650 people employed at the Trostre plant.
TATA steel industry is the largest steel producer in the UK, and one of the only two integrated steelmaking sites producing steel from iron ore.
In common with much of Welsh industry, the works have seen a significant short term reduction in the demand for its products as a result of the Coronavirus epidemic. Tata Steel UK, is seeking a £500m funding deal to sustain the business for the long-term.
While I understand it is up to the UK Government to step in and commit to real and significant support for Tata, the Welsh Government should draw up alternative plans if the Westminster government does not step up to the plate.
Experience suggests that we cannot rely on this UK Government. If we take the recent experience of furlough, where that support was not made available when it was needed in Welsh communities, but it was there as soon as it was needed in Surrey.
The Welsh steel sector must be the base of our low-carbon future for use in energy efficient buildings, in renewable energy, in low-carbon electric vehicles and construction.
This will cause a likely rise in demand for steel in Wales and across the UK, we therefore should not rush to decarbonise our steel industry in such a way that means that we have to massively increase steel imports, effectively exporting our carbon footprint instead of dealing with it using new technologies
We all understand the need for Tata reviewing all options to make sure the business is self-sustaining without the need for any funding support from Tata in India in the future.
I called for the Welsh Government to explore all models that would enable the ownership and control of the company to be taken back into Welsh hands if that’s what’s needed.
The Welsh Government was prepared to support a management buy-out, potentially, of Port Talbot a couple of years ago.
Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price said that the “only secure and sustainable future for Port Talbot and the other Welsh plants in the long run” was to return the ownership of the Welsh steel industry to Welsh hands – and ensuring that workers and their communities have a seat at the table.
Adam Price also called on the First Minister to develop a “fully-fledged alternative strategy” for Port Talbot based around maintaining the works in their current configuration in the short to medium term; investing in the development of hydrogen-based steel production in Wales; and ensuring that the Port Talbot works is converted to use the new technology to produce carbon neutral steel by 2035.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said the Welsh Government wouldn’t look to nationalise the industry but would put their energy at the service of the company and the UK Government.
Adam Price MS said: “History has taught us that we cannot rely on Westminster to solve Wales’s problems. When Wales does things differently, it does things better. Now is the time to show the difference that having our own government can make by bringing forward a counter proposal to protect jobs and livelihoods in Wales.”
There needs to be significant investment and long term strategies from Welsh Government to ensure that jobs are safe and that the industry is environmentally sustainable. The Welsh Government needs a ‘Just Transition’ strategy to ensure that workers in industries with an unclear path to decarbonisation are protected and offered retraining where needed.
Email:
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