Tata Steel expected to cut 1,200 jobs in the UK

Tata Steel will reportedly cut 1,200 jobs in Scunthorpe and at two sites in Scotland, putting the UK steel industry into more of a crisis.

Britain’s biggest steelmaker is expected to announce the Scunthorpe job losses next week, which will add to Tata’s job cuts made earlier this year.

These redundancies follow SSI UK’s announcement regarding the closure of its Redcar steel plant, which resulted in the loss of 1,700 jobs.

The UK steel industry has been struggling as of late due the high costs of electricity, meaning producing the metal in the UK is uneconomical, and being unable to compete with cheaper international competitors.

Tata currently employs around 3,000 people at its 151-year-old Scunthrope plant.

A spokesperson for Tata released a statement, which said: “We’ve been talking about the challenges we’re facing in the UK for many months - surging imports, compounded by the strong pound and uncompetitive policy costs.

“We’ve made a number of structural changes to our UK business over the last months and years to make us more competitive.

“Like all companies we continue to review the performance of our business.”

Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary of Community, the steelworkers union, added: “Clearly this is extremely worrying news for all those who may be affected.

“We’ll be seeking further discussions with Tata Steel to understand the full detail, examine alternatives that may safeguard jobs and uphold our principle of opposing compulsory redundancies.

“This is yet another blow to our steel communities and demonstrates the precarious state of the UK steel industry.”

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