Llanwern steelworks facts for kids
The Llanwern steelworks is a large factory where steel is made. It is located in Llanwern, a place just east of the city of Newport in South Wales.
Contents
History of Llanwern Steelworks
Building the Steelworks
The Llanwern steelworks was built for a company called Richard Thomas & Baldwins Ltd. Local people used to call it "The RTB." Later, it was known as Spencer Works, and then Llanwern when it became part of British Steel Corporation. The factory is right next to the main railway line in South Wales. This was great because it made it easy to transport materials and finished steel by train.
A Modern Steel Plant
When the Llanwern steelworks opened in 1962, it was very modern. It was the first steelworks in Britain to use a special method called "oxygen-blown" steelmaking. This made the process much more efficient. The factory also had a "hot strip mill" that used computers to control the entire process. This was a new and exciting step for technology at the time.
Changes Over Time
Before the steelworks was built, the area was made up of grasslands and wetlands. Local schoolchildren would often walk through these natural areas on their way to the sea. It was also a home for many different animals, like reptiles, amphibians, insects, mammals, and birds.
In the 1990s, Llanwern steelworks became British Steel's main hot strip mill. However, in 2001, the company stopped making new steel at the site. This meant that 1,300 jobs were lost. Instead, hot steel slabs were brought in by train from another factory, the Port Talbot steelworks. The older parts of the Llanwern factory that were no longer needed were taken down in 2004.
Later, in 2009, the company Corus (which owned the steelworks then) announced that the hot strip mill would stop working for a while. This led to over 500 more job losses. But in August 2009, they said the mill would start working again. Problems in Europe caused the mill to close again in November 2011, with plans to reopen in late 2012.
Present Day Operations
Today, the Llanwern site is part of Tata Steel Europe. The factory still has a hot strip mill, which rolls steel into long, flat coils. It also has two "pickle lines" (which clean the steel), a cold strip mill, and a "hot dip galvanising line" (which adds a protective coating to the steel).
The factory rolls about 1.5 million tonnes of steel coils every year. This steel is used to make parts for cars, buildings, and many other engineering projects.
Future of the Site
Glan Llyn Project
A big project called Glan Llyn is changing the old steel-producing part of the Llanwern site. This project started in 2004 and is expected to finish between 2026 and 2028. It aims to create new places for businesses, which could bring 6,000 jobs. It will also build 4,000 new homes, community buildings, and open spaces, including three new lakes.
New Train Factory
In 2017, a Spanish company called Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) announced that it would open a factory near the steelworks. This new factory, called CAF Newport, will build trains mainly for use in the UK.
