New MP for Hartlepool, Jonathan Brash, has visited Tata Steel to see the progress being made with the local site’s newly commissioned £7 million processing line that slits wide coil from Port Talbot into narrower widths suitable for making tubes and pipes.
It is the largest investment for many years at the Hartlepool site, which produces over 200,000 tonnes a year of steel tubes, supplying a wide range of products such as agricultural machinery, sports stadiums, steel-framed buildings and the energy sector.
Works Manager Andrew Ward said: “It is great to be able to welcome our new MP to site and to share with him the investments we are making as well as for him to meet our workforce.
“The new slitter will make a huge difference to the efficiency of the end-to-end process of turning slab from Port Talbot into coil before we form it into the highest quality tubes for global markets. Steel tubes from Hartlepool can be seen in projects as varied as The Museum of the Future in Dubai, the Real Madrid football stadium, the London Eye, offshore pipelines in America and the Kelpies sculpture in Scotland!”
Jonathan Brash MP said: “This is a major employer with a huge impact on our local economy. The things produced here we see all over the world and it’s a proud moment for me to come and experience this here.
“It’s incredibly impressive, and to hear about the investment that has happened here, the plans for the future and the growth they want to see here is incredibly exciting.
“I think we’re about to go through a period of re-industrialisation linked to a skills agenda – it has to be towns like ours that benefit from that. I’m really hopeful for the future – I want to put Hartlepool on the map as part of that exciting future and I think Tata Steel will be part of that.
“Everyone I have met here today has been extraordinary - the talent, skill, the ability is exemplary. My job is to secure the future of steel in Hartlepool, to grow this business and to ensure people have a livelihood into the future – they should be incredibly proud of what they do.”
Andrew continued: “This investment in Hartlepool allows us to bring a vital process on to our own site, which in turn will free up thousands of tonnes of capacity at the Port Talbot site as it transitions to low CO2 steel.”
The investment at the Hartlepool site is predicted to pay for itself in less than three years.
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About Tata Steel UK
- The Tata Steel Group has been named one of the most ethical companies in the world, and is among the top producing global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes.
- Tata Steel in the UK has the ambition to produce net-zero steel by 2045 at the latest, and to have reduced 30% of its CO2 emissions by 2030.
- Tata Steel is the largest steelmaker in the UK with primary steelmaking at Port Talbot in South Wales supporting manufacturing and distribution operations at sites across Wales, England and Northern Ireland as well as Norway, Sweden, France and Germany. It also benefits from a network of international sales offices around the world.
- Tata Steel employs more than 8,000 people and has an annual crude steel capacity of 5 million tonnes, supplying high-quality steel products to demanding markets, including construction and infrastructure, automotive, packaging and engineering.
- Tata Steel Group is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and a commercial presence across the world.
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