Metal jobs 'saved' by £4.5m grant

Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill became US Treasury Secretary

US-owned aluminum giant Alcoa has received £4.25m from the Welsh Assembly to safeguard 287 jobs at its Swansea plant.

The money is a Regional Selective Assistance grant from Westminster, is part of a total £12.5m investment and helps secure the future of the works at Waunarlwydd.

That should calm nerves in the firm's Welsh workforce, after Alcoa posted a 43% plunge in annual profits in October following a fall in global metal prices.

What is Regional Selective Assistance?

Grants for areas with unemployment problems

Funded by Department for Trade and Industry

West, north and parts of south Wales elligible

Grants of £50,000 or more available

Applications made to Welsh Assembly

Assembly ministers also handed £3m in May to the Conwy Valley plant, threatened by closure as Alcoa sought to streamline its 140,000 global workforce.

Its profit plunge followed eight years without any fall in quarterly profits, but the Swansea lifeline is seen as a vote of confidence in the Welsh manufacturing sector.

The money goes to the ingot plant, hot and cold rolling and finishing processes.

Key employer

Economic Development Minister Andrew Davies said in a statement: "It is a very positive sign that, by working closely together, the Welsh Assembly Government and Alcoa have succeeded in keeping these jobs in Wales.

"Alcoa is more than just a manufacturing plant. It uses highly sophisticated technology in its production process, and has an outstanding track record of training for its employees."

It is a positive sign - we have succeeded in keeping these jobs

Andrew Davies AM

The plant, which is close to Gowerton in the Loughor estuary, is in the minister's Swansea West constituency.

Welsh Development Agency executive director Mike King added: "Alcoa has a long established history in the area and plays a significant role in the local economy."

Andy Richards, the TGWU union's officer with manufacturing responsibility, said: "This grant will ensure the union and management at the plant have a fighting chance to successfully compete for business in an increasingly aggressive marketplace."

Mr Davies said his assembly government administration had given £60.7m in the first half of 2002 to secure jobs at firms in Wales.