Photos: Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates re-iterated the party’s support for Welsh steelmaking in a visit to Tata Steel in Newport.
Mr Skates joined Casnewydd Islwyn MS Jayne Bryant, Newport East MP Jessica Morden and Monmouthshire MP Cath Fookes at the site in Llanwern today (WEDNESDAY SEP 16), where they met with the site’s management as well as representatives from trade unions to discuss the challenges facing steel production in the city.
Tata’s site in Llanwern produces strip steel for UK and European markets through its pickle line and cold mill and is also home to the UK’s only automotive galvanising line, the ZODIAC line. The site is currently working at reduced capacity due to a lower level of orders.
Welsh steel is not only a vital part of the south Wales economy, but crucial to our UK Labour Government’s Industrial Strategy and national security. Working together in Wales and Westminster, Labour is standing up for Welsh steelmaking and taking every available step to boost domestic steel production.
Welsh Labour Leader Ken Skates MS said:
“Visiting Llanwern today was crucial to stand with steelworkers, their families and the wider community of Newport.
“Cheap imported steel is putting huge pressure on production and jobs, creating real uncertainty for those who work here.
“I want to thank the workforce and trade unions for making their concerns heard. The steel industry has deep roots here in Newport, and we need action to ensure Welsh steel can compete fairly, with investment that secures skilled jobs for the long term.”
While Plaid Cymru prioritise independence and separatist summits, our UK Labour Government is putting Welsh steelmaking at the heart of our Steel Strategy protecting thousands of steelmaking jobs in our communities. It’s that strategy which aims to see Welsh steel accounting for half of future UK steelmaking.
Newport East MP Jessica Morden said:
“This UK Labour Government has done more for the UK steel industry in the last two years than the previous government did in more than a decade. However, there is more to do, and I’ll continue pressing Ministers and colleagues on the issues of quotas and tariffs on galvanised steel to ensure that Llanwern Steelworks provides good, well-paid steelmaking jobs for people in Newport East for generations to come.”
Casnewydd Islwyn MS Jayne Bryant said:
“Steel making at Llanwern is in Newport’s DNA and it should have a proud future. But the workers I’ve spoken with today are concerned that future is under threat, and we must act on those concerns.
“As a local Senedd Member, I will continue to call on Plaid Cymru’s Welsh Government to recognise the importance of Llanwern to Wales, and the whole of the UK.”
Monmouthshire MP Cath Fookes said:
“It’s so important we do all we can as MPs to support our local steel plants. The Government’s UK Steel Strategy has a laudable aim to ensure that half of the steel the UK uses is British. We want as much as that of possible to be supplied by Welsh steel. Many of my Monmouthshire residents work at Llanwern and their steel making is as vital to the local south Wales economy as it is to the national UK economy. I’ll continue to raise the issue of quotas and the importance of buying Welsh steel for all UK projects, as I have done in Parliament this week.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site as part of his summer tour alongside Welsh Secretary Stephen Kinnock at the end of last month. Mr Kinnock also visited Llanwern with Ms Morden earlier in September. Despite all their posturing of standing up for Welsh steel making, no one from the new Plaid Cymru Government has been to Llanwern.
Tata Steel’s Llanwern Works Manager Craig Phillips said:
“Our ZODIAC galvanising line that was visited today is currently only running at around 50 percent capacity due to weakening demand and high levels of stock in the supply chain. This is creating significant concern among our workforce and highlights the pressures facing steelmaking across Wales and the UK.
“We have had constructive discussions with stakeholders about the issues with the current trade quota framework and the impact it is having on our operations at Llanwern, particularly on our galvanised steel products.
“If we are to continue producing world-class steel products at Llanwern and safeguard highly skilled jobs in our communities, we need urgent changes to the policy framework to provide a level playing field and greater certainty for steelworkers across south Wales and the wider UK.”
Community Assistant General Secretary Alasdair McDiarmid said:
“The future of Welsh manufacturing relies on the safeguarding of sites such as Llanwern, which produces substantial quantities of high-quality galvanised steel each year – steel that is vital to our national economy and construction industry.
“The recent changes to galvanized steel quotas have had serious impacts on operations at the site, and we are concerned that the reduced production threatens jobs and will have a domino effect, creating supply shortages for downstream manufacturing.
“We will continue to work with Labour MPs and the Government to advocate for more robust trade measures that will ensure the steelworks is protected from devastating floods of cheap high-carbon galvanised steel imports.”
Welsh Labour will always work to support our steelworkers to secure these high skilled jobs for future generations.
