Wales Online reported that TATA's Welsh operations will be unaffected by its decision to shed 1,500 jobs in the North of England.

A spokesman for TATA Steel' strip operations in South Wales, which include its Margam works on the outskirts of Port Talbot, said that staff were thinking of their colleagues over the border, where the business had been more severely hit by the downturn.

He added that "We are a very different business, making a very different product for a diverse range of markets. In Long Steel they make beams, columns and rails. The sections of the market they serve have been very profoundly hit by the economic recession. We in Wales make strip and serve the automotive market, the commercial construction market, tinplate and packaging, which are more lively."

TAT Steel announced that it is to axe jobs from three of its UK factories. It is proposing to close or mothball part of its Scunthorpe plant, putting at risk 1,200 jobs, as well as cutting 300 jobs at its sites on Teesside. The company also announced that it will invest GBP 400 million in its Long Products business over the next 5 years.

(Sourced from www.walesonline.co.uk)