D-day for steel plant looming

A decision on the plant's future is expected

A crucial announcement on the future of thousands of jobs at a south Wales steelworks is to be made in the next three days.

Unless Corus invests £30m in the Llanwern Steelworks near Newport, the works would eventually face closure, with up 3,000 jobs under threat.

Corus - formerly British Steel - is expected to announce whether it is to invest in re-lining a blast furnace at the plant.

There are fears of job losses at the plant

If the project gets the go-ahead, the immediate future of the plant should be assured.

In recent months, 450 steelworkers at the plant have been forced out of their jobs.

This has been part of the loss of 4,000 jobs by Corus around the UK. The company has blamed redundancies on the strength of the pound.

Corus met last Wednesday to decide its course of action, and although no public statement was forthcoming then, they have promised one by the end of the month.

But unions are confident the work on the blast furnace will go ahead.

"Re-lining the furnace is essential, not just for Llanwern, but for the whole of the Welsh economy," said Michael Leahy, general secretary of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation.

But he has called on the National Assembly for Wales to offer more support to avoid any further cuts at steel plants in the region.