Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jonathan Edwards Excerpts

Monday 18th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Ms Ghani]

As I mentioned, just shy of 9 million tonnes of scrap could potentially be used at the site. Tata has put together a substantial package, which shows that it has thought through its supply chains. A huge amount of work will continue to take place to ensure that more information is put in the public domain. No doubt there will be more public tenders, too. The scrap does exist and we recognise that electric arc furnaces produce a particular kind of steel, which is why it is important to have a virgin steel sector here in the UK as well.

I have spoken about the environmental impact and how it helps us to reduce our emissions, but it is not only about that. This site was reaching the end of its life, and these negotiations have been taking place forever. It is important that we made sure that we had the certainty and support to move on to the next conversation on how we best exploit the new site to produce cleaner, greener steel and how we make sure the contracts are in place.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (Ind)]

Understandably, there has been much focus on the potential job losses at the Port Talbot plant, but the steelworks is an anchor operation supporting a vast supply chain across Wales and beyond. The Minister mentioned that Tata Steel is making an assessment, but what assessment have the UK Government made of the impact of the announcement on the wider supply chain?

[Ms Ghani]

The hon. Gentleman is right that the sector has a vast supply chain, and we know how important it is for UK manufacturing. Last week’s data show that we are the world’s eighth largest manufacturer, so supply chains are imperative.

I am also working on an import supply chain strategy to ensure that we are as resilient as possible when importing from countries that may not share our democratic values. Work has been done internally on the supply chain. To secure the money in this package, Tata had to ensure it had a business plan and sight of its supply chains. This work has been ongoing for quite some time, and a lot of it has been commercially sensitive. Now we are able to speak about it, I do not doubt that more will be made public. We will continue to work on the supply chains, and I hope to put forward the import supply chain strategy by the end of the year.