'Huge frustration': Port Talbot's last blast furnace closes today

The steel town of Port Talbot is braced for the shutdown of the final furnace at its plant today, which will result in heavy job losses and deal a devastating blow to communities in south Wales.

- Jane Croft

Tata Steel has begun winding down operations at blast furnace 4 at Port Talbot and engineers have already started preparing it for decommissioning. Blast furnace 5 closed in July.

The closure is part of Tata's transition towards a greener form of steelmaking as it builds a £1.25bn electric arc furnace for the Port Talbot site by 2027, which produces steel by melting scrap metal.

The blast furnace closure will mean up to 2,000 jobs will go at the plant over coming months, with thousands more lost in the wider community.

It marks the end of traditional steelmaking in south Wales and means Port Talbot will be stripped of its ability to make its own "virgin" steel.

The jobs of 2,500 workers are also under threat at British Steel's site at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, with fears that the plant's Chinese owner, Jingye, could bring forward closure of the UK's remaining blast furnaces before the end of the year.