Tata Steel Port Talbot steel plant
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Tata Steel Port Talbot steel plant, also known as Port Talbot steelworks, is a blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) steel plant operating in Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom.
Location
The map below shows the exact location of the plant in Port Talbot, Wales, United Kingdom:
- Location: Tata Steel Strip Products UK, Port Talbot Works, PO Box 42, Port Talbot, South Wales SA13 2NG, United Kingdom
- Coordinates (WGS 84): 51.577368, -3.783013 (exact)
Background
In January 2020, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of the Tata Sons group that owns the Port Talbot plant, said the plant needs to be "self-sustaining." Tata Steel's 2017-2018 pre-tax losses were £371 million, up from £222 million in 2017-18.[1] A planned merger between Tata and German steel company ThyssenKrupp was blocked by the European Commission over competition concerns in June 2019.[1] In 2021, Port Talbot reported a £347 million loss despite £1 billion in equity to support the company, stating costs increased due partly to Brexit; it also cut employees by about 400.[2]
Tata Steel plans to install emissions reduction technologies on the Port Talbot blast furnaces and to continue operating them without plans to transition to electric arc furnace (EAF) production. The company claims that the process of constructing EAFs and decommissioning BFs would cost approximately USD $3 billion. [3]
History
Port Talbot works
The original works were built by Gilbertson, and situated south of Port Talbot railway station. Constructed in 1901–5, the works was named after Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot of Margam Castle, the principal sponsor of the developments at Port Talbot docks, which had opened in 1837.[4] The site was closed in 1961 and demolished in 1963.[4] The General Offices housed Port Talbot magistrates' court until 2012, but the rest of the site is an industrial estate.[4]
Margam works
Steelmaking at the Port Talbot complex began with the Margam Iron and Steel Works, completed between 1923 and 1926.[5][6]
Abbey works
Abbey Steelworks was planned in 1947 and is believed to be named after the Cistercian Margam Abbey that used to be on the site – a small amount of the original building still stands (protected) within the site that survived the dissolution of the monasteries. Several steel manufacturers in South Wales pooled their resources to form the Steel Company of Wales, to construct a modern integrated steelworks on a site then owned by Guest, Keen and Baldwins (GKN).[5] However, political manoeuvring led to tinplate production being retained in its original heartland further west, at two new works in Trostre and Felindre.[5] Opened in 1951, it was fully operational by 1953.[5]
Once the new No.4 and 5 furnaces began production, the older furnaces (No. 1 and 2) built in the 1920s, were demolished.[7] No.3 furnace, built in 1941, was retained as a stand-by, where it stood disused until demolished in the mid-2000s.[7]
Divestment
Tata Steel announced on March 30, 2016 it is to pull out of its UK operations, including Port Talbot.[8] It provided as reasons "imports of Chinese steel, high energy costs and weak demand ".[8] Plans to save the steelworks were put on hold when potential buyers indicated their intention to withdraw from the bidding process due to the UK voting in favor of withdrawing from the EU.[9] Port Talbot cut around 1,050 jobs that year.[10]
Environmental Compliance
Tata Steel plans to install emissions reduction technologies on blast furnaces and continue operating them, indicating that they are not planning a transition to EAF from BF-BOF. Tata sites that constructing EAFs and decommissioning BFs would cost approximately 3 billion USD.[11]
Plant Details
Table 1: General Plant Details
| Phase | Plant status | Announced date | Start date | Pre-retirement announcement date | Idled date | Retired date | Workforce size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main plant | Operating[12][13] | – | 1905[14] | – | – | – | 3500[15] |
| Closure | Operating pre-retirement[16] | – | – | 2024-01[16] | 2024[16] | 2024[16] | 2800[16] |
| Expansion | Announced[17] | 2023[18] | – | – | – | – | – |
Table 2: Ownership and Parent Company Information
| Phase | Parent company | Parent company PermID | Parent company GEM ID | Owner | Owner company PermID | Owner company GEM ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main plant | Tata Steel Ltd [100.0%] | 4295872420 [100%] | E100000001753 [61.6%]; E100000121405 [32.4%]; E100001000520 [6%] | Tata Steel UK Ltd[19][20] | 4296714310 | E100001010180 |
Table 3: Process and Products
| Phase | Steel product category | Steel products | Steel sector end users | Main production equipment | Detailed production equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main plant | semi-finished; finished rolled[13] | slab, hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised coil[13] | automotive; building and infrastructure; steel packaging[21] | BF, BOF[13] | 2 BOF[22][13] |
| Closure | semi-finished; finished rolled[13] | slab, hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised coil[13] | automotive; building and infrastructure; steel packaging[21] | BF, BOF[16] | 2 BOF[22][13] |
| Expansion | semi-finished; finished rolled[13] | slab, hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanised coil[13] | automotive; building and infrastructure; steel packaging[21] | EAF[17] | 1 EAF[17] |
Table 4: Crude Steel Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)
| Phase | Capacity operating status* | Basic oxygen furnace steelmaking capacity | Electric arc furnace steelmaking capacity | Nominal crude steel capacity (total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main plant | operating | – | – | – |
| Closure | operating pre-retirement | 5000 TTPA[13][13] | – | 5000 TTPA[13][13] |
| Expansion | announced | – | 3000 TTPA[17] | 3000 TTPA[17] |
Table 5: Crude Iron Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)
| Phase | Capacity operating status* | Blast furnace capacity | Nominal iron capacity (total) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main plant | operating | – | – |
| Closure | operating pre-retirement | 4770 TTPA[23][24] | 4770 TTPA[23][24] |
| Expansion | announced | – | – |
Table 6: Upstream Products Production Capacities (thousand tonnes per annum)
| Phase | Sinter | Coke |
|---|---|---|
| Main plant | >0 TTPA[13] | >0 TTPA[13] |
| Closure | – | >0 TTPA[16] |
| Expansion | – | – |
Blast Furnace Details
Table 7: Blast Furnace Details
| Unit name | Status | Announced date | Construction date | Start date | Retired date | Furnace manufacturer and model | Current size | Current capacity (ttpa) | Decarbonization technology | Most recent relining |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | operating pre-retirement[16] | unknown | unknown | 1992[25][24][26] | 2024[16] | Primetals Technologies; Siemens VAI[24][27] | 2388 m³[27] | 2580[23] | 3D scanning technology was installed on the furnace in 2021 to reduce the amount of coke needed for production[28] | 2013-02[24][29] |
| 5 | operating pre-retirement[16] | unknown | unknown | 2002[24][26] | 2024[16] | Primetals Technologies; Saint-Gobain (parts)[30][24] | 2134 m³[24] | 2190[24] | Tata is installing Topscan technology on BF 5, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 50,000 tons per year[28] | 2019-01-19[24] |
Articles and Resources
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of steel power plants, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Steel Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Port Talbot: Tata Steel bosses 'can't keep funding losses'. BBC. 5 Jan 2020
- ↑ Jolly, Jasper (2021-09-01). "Port Talbot steelworks owner reports £347m loss despite £1bn funding". the Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Tata Steel UK will reduce carbon emissions by 50 thousand tons per year in Port Talbot". GMK Center. 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Port Talbot steelworks". coflein.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "ABBEY WORKS, MARGAM STEEL WORKS, MARGAM". coflein.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ Port Talbot Historical Society. "Time Line 20th C". Archived from the original on 19 April 1998. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Margam Steel Works (Abbey Works) for The Steel Company of Wales Limited, Port Talbot, West Glamorgan: the number 5 blast furnace, Architectural Press Archive / RIBA Collections, Retrieved on: Mar. 12, 2020
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Graham Ruddick, Heather Stewart (30 March 2016). "Tata Steel to sell off entire British business". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
Tata blames cheap imports of Chinese steel, high energy costs and weak demand
- ↑ correspondent, Brian Meechan BBC Wales business. "Brexit stalls Tata Steel's UK operations sale plans". BBC News. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ↑ John, Lucy (2020-11-22). "The endless troubles of the Port Talbot steelworks". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
- ↑ Kolisnichenko, Vadim (November 22, 2022). "Tata Steel UK will reduce carbon emissions by 50 thousand tons per year in Port Talbot". GMK Center.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ https://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/tata-steel-uk-reduces-energy-use-and-carbon-footprint-at-port-talbot-with-laser-technology-1264153.htm.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 https://web.archive.org/web/20220619114921/https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/construction/sustainability/performance-at-our-sites/port-talbot. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230916110527/https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/about-us/at-a-glance. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220828200915/https://inews.co.uk/news/business/port-talbot-steel-jobs-threat-eco-blackmail-tata-seeks-subsidies-1758465. Archived from the original on 28 August 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 https://web.archive.org/web/20240209184753/https://www.aist.org/news/steel-news/2024/january/15-19-january-2024/tata-steel-announces-plan-to-replace-u-k-bfs-with. Archived from the original on 09 February 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20240110021537/https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/sustainability/green-steel-future-uk. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20240110022000/https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/tata-steel-port-talbot-wales-uk-steel-spending-eaf-recycling/. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20220111143108/https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/sustainability/our-communities. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20231119030940/https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/legal-notice/entities. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 https://www.tatasteeleurope.com/about-us/sites-and-facilities.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 22.0 22.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20190508001430/https://www.architecture.com/image-library/RIBApix/image-information/poster/margam-steel-works-abbey-works-for-the-steel-company-of-wales-limited-port-talbot-west-glamorgan-the/posterid/RIBA25361.html. Archived from the original on 08 May 2019.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20220318115528/https://www.eurofer.eu/assets/Uploads/Map-20191113_Eurofer_SteelIndustry_Rev3-has-stainless.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 24.5 24.6 24.7 24.8 24.9 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20210718151614/https://www.primetals.com/fileadmin/user_upload/content/01_portfolio/1_ironmaking/blast-furnace/TATA_STEEL_PORT_TALBOT_-_BLAST_FURNACE_NO5.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2021.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-wales-21436287.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 26.0 26.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20220803103304/https://www.newsteelconstruction.com/wp/furnace-ready-for-blast-off/. Archived from the original on 03 August 2022.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 27.0 27.1 https://abmproceedings.com.br/en/article/download-pdf/blast-furnace-opportunities-for-revamping-projects.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 28.0 28.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20221130080014/https://gmk.center/en/news/tata-steel-uk-will-reduce-carbon-emissions-by-50-thousand-tons-per-year-in-port-talbot/. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20240322052510/https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/inside-tata-steels-no-4-2025582. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20221128015619/https://www.ceramicsrefractories.saint-gobain.com/sites/hps-mac3-cma-pcr/files/assetbank_media/Iron---Steel-Blast-Furnace-brochure-2022-web-2274441.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 November 2022.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)
