Indian steel group Tata Steel may close its plant at Port Talbot, the UK’s largest steel mill. Tata has said for some time that government support is needed to keep the blast furnace complex open and wants £1.5 billion to support reforestation.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of parent company Tata Group, said in an interview with the Financial Times that he wanted clarity from the government within 12 months. “If this doesn’t happen, we will have to see the closure of the site,” he told the business newspaper.
About 4,000 people work for Tata Steel in Port Talbot, Wales. The steel mill used to be under the same European division as Tata Steel Netherlands, but since last year the Dutch section has become an independent subsidiary of the India group.
According to the Financial Times, of interest to insiders, the Minister for the Economy Kwasi Kwarteng wants to help steel producers in the UK reduce CO2 emissions. Tata can also get help with this. But the final choice in that area is up to the future prime minister.
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