MERGER SECURES BRITISH INDUSTRY FOR A GENERATION STEEL JOBS Savedsteelmaker.

THOUSANDS of British jobs will be safeguarded for a generation after Tata Steel announced a game-changing merger yesterday. The deal with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp AG steel is the biggest shake-up in the industry in a decade. It is likely to lead to an investment that will see steel being produced in South Wales until 2026 at the Port Talbot plant. Part of the plan will see the repair of a blast furnace at the site, which employs 4,000. Another 2,000 people work for Tata in Wales. The 50-50 merger will combine Thyssenkrupp and India’s Tata Steel’s European steel operation, creating Europe’s second-largest Tata, under pressure from crashing global steel prices, had planned to close Port Talbot.

The firm has already sold off one division, including its Scunthorpe plant, to the private equity group Greybull, which has renamed the business British Steel.

Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of the Community union, said steelworkers had fought hard to secure the future of British steel-making.

He said: “With a commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies until October 2026, and the first £200million of any operating profit being invested back in the business, this joint venture has the potential to safeguards jobs and steel-making for a generation.”

The new joint venture – to be named Thyssenkrupp Tata Steel – will have about 48,000 workers and £13billion in sales and be based in the Netherlands.