Jonathan Reynolds, the UK’s new business secretary, has stated that the UK government will demand job guarantees from Tata Steel UK, subsidiary of India-based steelmaker Tata Steel Limited, for its Port Talbot plant in exchange for governmental support for the industry, according to media reports. The election promise of the new government pledged £2.5 billion for the steel industry on top of the £500 million that was already in the outgoing government’s plans.
The negotiations between the government and the company are ongoing, while Mr. Reynolds noted that the timescale for the negotiations is not so large. The business secretary noted that there is more money available for the steel industry under the new government’s plans, though the government needs to make sure that “decarbonization is not de-industrialization”.
The company shut down one blast furnace at the end of June and plans to decommission the second blast furnace by the end of September this year.
Meanwhile, UK-based workers’ union Unite suspended its plans to go on a strike against Tata Steel UK’s operations on July 8, citing the openness to dialogue which Tata Steel’s management had shown, as SteelOrbis previously reported.