Stephen Kinnock, Labour MP for Aberafan Maestag, visited Tata Steel’s Port Talbot site to see the progress of its electric arc furnace (EAF) project.
“It’s been great to see the project in action,” he said. “It's all about transitioning this plant from the old way of making steel to a new way, which is an electric arc furnace that will produce three million tonnes of steel every year.”
Kinnock also highlighted the scale of the project. He said: “You just look around at the scale of what’s happening here — it is mind-blowing,
“I’ve been able to see some of the early work: the pile‑driving, the preparations, the lagoon being filled with 200,000 tonnes of stone. This project is ramping up. It’s very, very serious in terms of how much progress has already been made.”
Kinnock noted that he’d been informed that a lot of the people working on this project were local people, emphasising the employment being generated at Port Talbot.
Kinnock concluded by outlining the need for greater trade defence measures: “Millions of tonnes of steel are being dumped on global markets by China. We need to be tougher. I’m talking with ministers daily on this, and I’m hopeful we’ll see positive developments soon.
“Get trade defence right, get the long‑term steel strategy right — and we can build a better future for our steel industry.”
The Port Talbot EAF is set to be commissioned in late 2027 or early 2028.
