Had a phonecall tonight from a friend who runs a company in Cardiff.
He told me that Novelis - the aluminium manufacturer in Rogerstone, Newport - is reviewing its operations and that 450 jobs may be under threat. Not only that, he is one of many suppliers waiting for payment and is worrying, quite rightly, that he may end up with nothing if, as happened with Budelpack Cosi in Maesteg, the parent company puts the company into administration and just leaves.
There are also worries that Corus in Llanwern may be under threat, despite assurances from Corus.
As reported in the local papers last week, Corus is to halt most production at its Llanwern plant until at least March next year, with production run down to about ten percent of its current capacity. Worst of all, it could not give a cast iron assurance when full production would return, and that its aim of returning to full production in March was an aspiration.
The FT reported earlier today that Corus is already applying for state aid in the Netherlands and will be doing the same in the UK. The decisions of both governments on whether to support Corus could be the deciding factor in which country loses their steel capacity which, given that the Dutch already have a scheme in place, could be bad news for Llanwern.
He told me that Novelis - the aluminium manufacturer in Rogerstone, Newport - is reviewing its operations and that 450 jobs may be under threat. Not only that, he is one of many suppliers waiting for payment and is worrying, quite rightly, that he may end up with nothing if, as happened with Budelpack Cosi in Maesteg, the parent company puts the company into administration and just leaves.
There are also worries that Corus in Llanwern may be under threat, despite assurances from Corus.
As reported in the local papers last week, Corus is to halt most production at its Llanwern plant until at least March next year, with production run down to about ten percent of its current capacity. Worst of all, it could not give a cast iron assurance when full production would return, and that its aim of returning to full production in March was an aspiration.
The FT reported earlier today that Corus is already applying for state aid in the Netherlands and will be doing the same in the UK. The decisions of both governments on whether to support Corus could be the deciding factor in which country loses their steel capacity which, given that the Dutch already have a scheme in place, could be bad news for Llanwern.
Comments
Worst of all, it could not give a "cast iron" assurance when full production... bad!
worrying times indeed but that's the global capitalist market for you eh Dylan?