Plans submitted to dismantle major part of Port Talbot steelworks

Lewis Smith, Local Democracy Reporter

A major part of Port Talbot’s Tata Steel site is set to be dismantled following the submission of plans to the local council.

The prior notification applications were handed in to Neath Port Talbot Council in February of 2026, in order to decide how the site’s massive sinter plant along with associated structures and equipment will be demolished.

A sinter plant is a part of a steelworks site that prepares raw materials for the blast furnace, producing sinter which is used in the wider steel making process.

The submission is part of a series of demolition applications which focus on the redundant former heavy end of Port Talbot Steelworks.

It is also part of the construction for Tata’s new £1.25bn electric arc furnace that is currently being developed at the site.

The project has previously been described as having the potential to bring a new era of steel making to the town, along with some major changes to its well known industrial skyline.

The scheme which is said to be of “national strategic importance” was first given the go-ahead at a Neath Port Talbot Council planning committee held on February 18, 2025.

It marked the beginning of work to demolish a number of buildings and structures at the facility, as part of the creation of an electric arc furnace that could eventually be one of the biggest of its kind in the world.

The new furnace currently has an estimated completion time of three years, with the ability to produce around 3.2 million tonnes of steel each year once up and running through the melting of scrap steel.

Detailed plans

The latest submission comes ahead of more detailed plans and methods that will be given to the local council before work can start.

They would eventually see the controlled deconstruction and clearance of multiple industrial conveyors, junction houses, processing buildings, auxiliary structures, civil works, and associated equipment in the sinter plant.

Plans say work at this part of the plant will be split into a total of eight phases, running from A to H.

While phase F can now proceed with approval from council officers as part of their delegated decisions, the other phases will require further approval of detailed demolition methods before the works can begin.