A report from the BBC claims that Liberty Steel in the UK has put 440 jobs at risk under plans to 'mothball' three factories and cut production at another.
According to an online report, facilities in West Bromwich, Newport and Tredegar will be idled as part of a restructuring programme.
High energy costs and the negative effects of foreign imports mean that production at the company's Rotherham site will be scaled back.
Union leaders have described the news as a body blow for the workers, claims the BBC, while Liberty claims it has been forced to 'refocus' its business to adapt to 'challenging market realities'.
In terms of potential job losses, up to 185 jobs are said to be under threat at the Rotherham plant while 121 workers are at risk in Newport and 35 in Tredegar. An estimated 99 roles will be in jeopardy in West Bromwich.
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it was shone by Sanjeev Gupta whose GFG Alliance owns Liberty. Gupta claims that production will restart when market and operating conditions allow.
Liberty has claimed that it will try to find alternative employment for those earmarked for redundancy.
Speaking to the BBC, Liberty's Jeffrey Kabel, the company's chief transformation officer, commented: "While our action is expected to regrettably impact the roles of some of our workforce, we will provide a level of guaranteed salary and out placement opportunities through our unique Workforce Solutions programme."
"While our action is expected to regrettably impact the roles of some of our workforce, we will provide a level of guaranteed salary and out placement opportunities through our unique Workforce Solutions programme."
Jeffrey Kabel, chief transformation officer, Liberty Steel, talking to the BBC.
Understandably, the unions are not at all happy. Alun Davies, national officer at steelmakers' union Community described the job losses as 'devastating'. He urged the Government to deliver the competitive energy prices needed by the steel industry and to stop dithering.
Rotherham Labour MP Sarah Champion said she was 'sickened and beyond angry' about the threatened redundancies, claiming the workers had been 'abandoned to their fate' by the Government.
Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, a long-time supporter and champion of the British steel industry, said it was important to realise the importance of the UK's indigenous steel industry and its workforce.
Citing Putin's invasion of Ukraine and China's mounting aggression he said that we 'desperately need steelmaking capacity here in Britain'.
Source: BBC news website