A little under six weeks since becoming the new Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock MP made his second trip to a Tata Steel site, when he visited Llanwern last week, accompanied by local MP, Jessica Morden.
A little under six weeks since becoming the new Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Kinnock MP made his second trip to a Tata Steel site, when he visited Llanwern last week, accompanied by local MP, Jessica Morden.
Mr Kinnock met the local trades unions and site leadership team, and heard from Commercial colleagues about the impact of recently implemented steel trade quotas on the UK business, before visiting the Zodiac galvanising line for the first time.
Wherever he went, the message to the new Secretary of State was the same: The new quotas are having a massive impact on our business – not only in Llanwern where imports of galvanised steels are flooding the market and driving prices down, but also in Trostre for packaging steels, and Corby for structural hollow sections.
Chair of the Llanwern multi-unions and Community Union President, Reg Gutteridge, said:
“It’s great that he came to Llanwern to witness first-hand the problems these quotas have created. The challenge for the current government is to turn words into actions – we just can’t wait 12 months until the next quotas come into place, it is much more urgent than that.”
Works Manager Craig Phillips, added:
“He was super impressed with our world-class facilities here, and it was great to be able to introduce him to some of the people working on the line. But their message to him was the same: ‘we can get excited about the prospect of green steel from the EAF, but if we don’t get the quotas sorted out, what does our future look like?’”
Commercial Director, Tony Waite added:
“We welcome every opportunity to talk to Governments about creating a positive operating environment so that manufacturing can grow across the UK.
“In addition to trade measures, legislation such as the forthcoming Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) also brings uncertainty and there is a lot of speculation on this topic now in the market place. Bring clarity to this topic is important.
“We now need to work together as a collective value chain on how we avoid further contraction of the steel market. Quotas and CBAM risk offshoring of UK production and demand.”
About Tata Steel UK
- The Tata Steel Group has been named one of the most ethical companies in the world, and is among the top producing global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes.
- Tata Steel in the UK has the ambition to produce net-zero steel by 2045 at the latest, and to have reduced 30% of its CO2 emissions by 2030.
- In October 2024, Tata Steel ceased ironmaking at its Port Talbot site and temporarily paused steelmaking pending the construction of a 3.2Mtpa Electric Arc Furnace, due to be commissioned late in 2027 / early 2028. For that period, the business will import slab and hot rolled coil to support manufacturing and distribution operations at sites across Wales, England and Northern Ireland as well as Norway, Sweden, France, Germany and UAE. It also benefits from a network of sales offices around the world.
- Throughout 2024 Tata Steel UK has been undergoing a restructuring that will reduce the size of its workforce to around 5000 direct employees, supplying high-quality steel products to demanding markets, including construction and infrastructure, automotive, packaging and engineering.
- Tata Steel Group is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and a commercial presence across the world.
- The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of around US$27.3 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2026.
- Tata Steel has long played a key role in enabling the UK economy to become more circular. Its products are highly durable, reusable and recyclable, It applies a sustainability assessment tool during its new product development process to measure the sustainability credentials of its new offerings.
- More information about the crucial role that Tata Steel UK already plays in driving the UK to a more circular economy, and its plans to play an even greater role, can be found in its recently-published Sustainability Report covering 2023-2025.