Tories call for answers over delays to new steelworks furnace at Port Talbot

Martin Shipton

The Welsh Conservatives have called on the Welsh Government to urgently set out who knew what and when about reports of delays to Tata Steel’s new electric arc furnace at Port Talbot.

An electricity supply problem is causing the delay, which is hampering the plan to keep steel jobs in the town.

Welsh Conservative economy spokesperson Janet Finch-Saunders raised the issue at the Senedd during an emergency statement following the recent fire at the steelworks.

While much attention has focused on the fire, reports suggest that separate concerns about delays to the electric arc furnace may have been known for weeks.

On June 7, it was reported that Tata Steel had discussed potential delays linked to National Grid connectivity issues with “investors” during a conference call around a month earlier.

Ms Finch-Saunders is seeking clarity on whether those “investors” included the UK Government, which is investing £500m towards the £1.25bn project.

The previous UK Conservative Government established an £80m transition fund to support workers at risk of losing their jobs. The Welsh Conservatives are now seeking clarification on whether any of that funding remains available if the delays create further financial problems for affected workers.

Ms Finch Saunders said: “If UK Government Ministers were aware of the issue a month ago, were Welsh Government Ministers informed? If the Welsh Government were not informed, why not? If the Welsh Government were informed, why did the Economy Minister tell the Senedd that he only became aware of the delay on Monday?

“We now need a clear timeline setting out exactly when concerns first emerged and who was told. Port Talbot workers and their families deserve answers.”

Adam Price, the Cabinet Minister for Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy, responded to Ms Finch-Saunders’ questions during a Senedd plenary session, saying: “In terms of when did I know, then, I found out on Monday, and we were able to speak on Monday morning with the CEO and have a detailed conversation with him at that stage in relation to what had happened in terms of the fire, but also the reports in relation to the delay.

“Some of this information is commercially sensitive, so—. Well, there is market-sensitive information about a company that is regulated like this that they can only, under law, provide through appropriate channels.

“Ultimately, in a commercially led project like this, it’s for those commercial parties to decide when that information is released and where, but I found out on Monday.

“We acted very quickly to ensure that we had as much information as we could from Tata. As I said, we will be seeking to see what we can do as a government directly, but also what influence we can bring to bear on all of the other stakeholders in order to ensure that this delay is minimised, that we achieve progress in an accelerated way, because that’s how, of course, we can maximise the benefit to the workforce, to the community and to Wales.”

Earlier this week a Tata Steel official has said that getting the new electric arc furnace operational at their Port Talbot site could be delayed by up to 12 months.

Electricity supply issue

The company’s Executive Director said the delay is due to an electricity supply issue, but they are working with the National Grid.

The new £1.25bn furnace, which aims to create a greener way of steelmaking, is currently being built to replace the former traditional blast furnaces.

The company had initially predicted that the furnace would be operational by the end of 2027.

In a call between Tata staff, Koushik Chatterjee, the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer at Tata Steel, said they initially estimated an 18-month delay, which they have since reduced to 12 months.

He added that the company is working with the government and National Grid and are hopeful to bring that delay down further to “somewhere between six months and eight months”.