Trostre Steelworks
Trostre Steelworks is a tinplate manufacturing facility located in Pemberton, Carmarthenshire, just outside Llanelli, West Wales. Planned by the Steel Company of Wales in 1947, today it is part of Tata Steel Europe's infrastructure.
Trostre Steelworks | |
---|---|
Built | 1951 |
Location | Llanelli |
Industry | Steel |
Products | Tinplate |
Employees | 700 |
Background
The name of the area derives from the Pemberton family,
History
On formation in 1947, the nationalised Steel Company of Wales was under UK Government pressure to both increase production and profits, and rationalise its production base. As part of its strategic plan, the company envisaged creating two new tinplate works, one at Trostre and one at Felindre, Swansea.[2]
With in excess of 12,000 men unemployed in post-
Construction was started in August 1947,
Production started in 1951, which was also the year in which the delayed Felindre plant was given approval for construction.[2] Output reached the planned 400,000 tons in 1956.[3]
British Steel
In 1967, the Steel Company of Wales was nationalised with others to form
While Felindre had always out produced Trostre on quality and volume since the start of its production in 1956 (peak production, 450,000 tons per annum), after a review of its tinplate sites in South Wales, British Steel decided in December 1980 to close Felindre. 1,300 people were made redundant in March 1981, though 138 were found jobs at Trostre. Production finally ceased in 1989, when another 108 were given jobs at Trostre.[2][4]
Corus
On 6 October 1999, a merger was announced between the
Although investment had continued at the Ebbw Vale site over the past two decades, No.2 ETL had been shut down in 1995, and rather than be redeveloped as planned had become a source of spares for the No.1 ETL. Steel production capacity was in excess of the required market in Europe, hence the need for the merger, which would result in the closure of capacity across the newly integrated company. With much tinplate consumption moving to the newly expanding Asian market, it came as little surprise when on 1 February 2001 that Corus announced the focus of tinplate production at Trostre, and the resultant complete closure of the Ebbw Vale site with the loss of 780 jobs.[5]
The Ebbw Vale plant began a shut-down procedure, with many of the lines within the plant packaged up and transported to other Corus sites, including Trostre and IJmuiden, the Netherlands, while other plants were sold as a package to an Indian-based company.[5]
In July 2002, the Ebbw Vale steelworks site officially closed, although a skeleton staff deconstructed the remaining sold plants and handled shipping of residual finished product until December 2002.[5] This led to Trostre becoming the UK's only tinplate manufacturer.[4]
Tata Steel
In 2021 and 2022, Tata Steel at Trostre celebrated its 70th anniversary. It included the Tin Works art project titled by artist Hilary Powell to showcase the history and people of Trostre printed onto cans made of tinplate.[6]
Present
Presently the plant employs around 700 people, and manufactures tinplated steel, electro chromium coated steel and laminated steel (under the Protact brand) for packaging applications such a food and
Tata Steel's Packaging Recycling team are based at the site, responsible for managing the largest steel reprocessor in the UK.
References
- ^ Pemberton Family
- ^ a b c d e "Steel Company of Wales". Graces Guide. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Trostre Works". Llanelli-History.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ ISBN 9780708319536 – via Credo Reference.
In 2002, following the closure of Ebbw Vale, Trostre became Britain's sole tinplate manufacturer, producing an average output of around 700,000 tonnes.
- ^ a b c "Ebbw Vale steelsworks". Graces Guide. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
- ^ "70 year anniversary at Trostre". Sustainable Packaging News. 24 May 2022.
- ^ "Tata Steel Packaging Recycling". Tata Steel Europe. 8 June 2022.