The UK government is exploring supporting Nordic company Blastr Green Steel setting up an iron pellet plant on the Port Talbot site in Wales, Kallanish learns.
The comments were made on 1 May by Sarah Jones, the UK minister for industry, during a parliamentary debate.
The potential plant could be based on surplus land at the Port Talbot site, where Tata Steel operations are currently located.
When asked a question about how much of the £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) steel fund Wales would receive, Jones said: “I had a good meeting this week with Blastr, which is looking to build an iron pellet plant at the Port Talbot site if possible, and we are trying to support that.”
She added her government had re-negotiated the deal for Port Talbot with Tata Steel and the £500 million of funding previously agreed for its electric arc furnace transformation.
Jones noted the focus in recent weeks had been on Scunthorpe and British Steel, after the government took control of the steelworks on 12 April by passing the Steel Industry Bill. However, she added that “the steel fund remains”.
She had previously said the government was investigating the merits of investing in DRI production using hydrogen.
“The steel plan is still being worked on, which is very broad and hopes to lift the entire UK steel industry,” she added.
In recent days, the government said its support for British Steel since the takeover is nearing £100m.
When approached regarding the Blastr plant, a Tata Steel spokesperson said: “We are committed to working with all our stakeholders to develop potential from surplus land at our site at Port Talbot. We are not able to comment on specific expressions of interest at this time.”
Blastr did not respond to request for comment from Kallanish before deadline.
Carrie Bone UK
