UK to Become Only G20 Country Incapable of Raw Steel Production as Top Plant Goes ‘Green’, Thousands of Jobs to Be Cut

[Bossman]

The UK is set to become the only country in the G20 without the ability to make steel from raw materials as its largest plant goes "green" and is expected to cut nearly 3,000 jobs in the process.

Indian-owned Tata Steel announced on Friday that it will be scrapping its blast furnaces at the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales and will replace them with an electric-powered arc furnace in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The move, which the poorly-named Conservative government gave £500 million in taxpayer money to help achieve, will mean that Britain will no longer be able to domestically produce steel from raw materials, given that the electric furnaces will only be able to convert recycled materials into steel.

This form of recycled steel is much weaker than that made from raw materials, and therefore cannot be used to make military vehicles and other defence projects. It will mean that Britain will become the only nation in the G20 incapable of producing its own steel from raw materials domestically, The Guardian reported.

The green conversion of the steelworks will also take upwards of four years to complete and will see as many as 2,800 jobs cut, severely impacting the small town of 32,000 that has already suffered under decades of deindustrialization.

Commenting on the scheme, vice-chair of the Port Talbot multi unions Gary Keogh said: "This plant isn't part of the community, it is the community. We're now fighting for a way of life. We're an endangered species... The mood is devastation, uncertainty and probably overnight – certainly in my case – it's going to be anger."

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Admin's Response ...

Bloody scandalous.

This will leave the UK unable to make quality steel, as the 'upgraded' plant will only be able to handle recycled metal, which is weak in comparison to the steel the place used to make, too weak to be used for making military vehicles and the like.