News: Tata Steel Europe invests in South Yorkshire

Tata Steel Europe is investing £6.5m in new high-tech equipment at its Stocksbridge plant in South Yorkshire, to increase production of aerospace steels. A move that will safeguard 2,000 jobs at Rotherham and Stocksbridge.

Tata Steel Speciality has been a leading manufacturer of aerospace steels for more than 60 years and supplies special steels to aerospace component manufacturers around the world from the company's South Yorkshire sites at Rotherham and Stocksbridge.

Peter Hogg, Tata Steel Speciality's general manager, said: "This investment will make us stronger and help secure the jobs of 2,000 South Yorkshire steelworkers. It's a big confidence boost.

"As the demand for aerospace steel increases, it's vital we have the ability to increase our production of this highly technical and demanding product, which is used in aircraft landing gear, engines, wings and other safety-critical components.

"Customers want higher-quality, higher-strength and superior-performance steels. This investment demonstrates our commitment to continue supplying steel to the most demanding applications in the world."

Investment in 2005 saw the Rotherham site at Aldwarke become the focus for steel making, casting and rolling of specialist steels. The steel is manufactured at the Rotherham site before undergoing further refining at the Stocksbridge plant to improve the quality.

The steel, predominantly stainless and low alloy grades, is used in landing gear and aircraft engines including the landing gear of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, as well as other latest generation aircraft.

The company announced ealier in the month that the Speciality Steels business in South Yorkshire consolidated its return to profitability in the first half of 2011. Tata reported that the business has shown the benefits of a strategy that focuses on exceptional high-value products and sectors and that the proportion of high-value sales in the Speciality Steels portfolio has risen from 50% to 90%.

In July, the steelmaker announced plans to recruit 154 new workers for its South Yorkshire manufacturing operations and the resumption of apprentice and graduate recruitment.

Tata Steel Europe website

Images: tatasteeleurope.com