Tata close to deal on Port Talbot steel plant, Sky sources say

International conglomerate Tata Group is close to agreeing a deal which would safeguard the jobs of around 4,500 employees at its steel plant in Port Talbot, Wales, Sky (Frankfurt: 893517 - news) sources say.

The plant has been under threat since Tata announced plans to sell off a significant amount of its UK business in March of this year amid falling steel prices.

The sale would have put a total of around 11,000 UK jobs at risk.

However, the company reconsidered after the Government pledged to provide hundreds of millions of pounds in financial support.

It is now understood that Tata is edging closer to agreeing a deal with the steel unions which would see continued investment into the plant in return for concessions on staff terms and conditions.

Although details of the potential deal have not been released, it is thought the unions will be fighting to ensure the two blast furnaces at Port Talbot are kept in use.

Councillor Tony Taylor, who worked at the plant for 44 years, told Sky News' Siobhan Robbins that if the future of two blast furnaces could be guaranteed it would "secure the plant for 15-20 years".

"It's good news for Port Talbot, there's a future there now," he said.

"There have been a lot of people working at the plant who were unable to get mortgages as they were told there's no future in steel. There is now.

"People can start looking forward to the future."

The UK's steel industry has been in decline for more than four decades, but has faced a particularly difficult global climate in recent years as cheap Chinese steel pushes global prices down.

Port Talbot is Britain's biggest steelworks, in terms of both workforce and output, and many contractors and service firms also rely on the plant.

Tata UK's Scunthorpe site, which employed more than 4,000 people, was sold in June to investment group Greybull Capital, who have continued operating under the revived British Steel brand.

The wider Tata Steel (BSE: TATASTEEL.BO - news) company has sites across Europe, India and South East Asia.