Archana Shukla
India business correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Tata Steel is part of the larger Tata Group, the most valuable business conglomerate in India with revenues of £118bn in 2022-23.

It has 29 listed businesses including tea, cars, IT, consumer products, heavy metals, real estate and aviation.

Tata Steel has an annual crude steel capacity of 35 million tonnes, with 77,000 employees globally and manufacturing plants in 26 countries.

Tata Steel forayed into the UK steel industry in 2007 by winning a bidding war for the Dutch steel maker Corus, the previous owner of the steelworks in Port Talbot.

Since the recession of 2008 and the global collapse of steel demand and prices, the contribution of UK steel to the company’s overall production fell from nearly 40% to just under 10% now.

Tata Group’s interests in the UK go beyond steel.

It will spend £4bn building an electric vehicle battery "gigafactory" in the UK to supply to its luxury arm, Jaguar Land Rover.

Nia Griffith, Labour MP for Llanelli, tells BBC Radio Wales about Tata Steel and what it means.

“We get our steel from Port Talbot and the fact of the matter is Tata seems to have a plan now that we will be importing that steel.

"Now there's a real danger we're subject to the vagaries of their decisions. They have another very similar plant to ours in the Netherlands and of course the worry is there that they might take the production away all together.

"So people are really really worried and it makes absolutely no sense to me at all to be importing steel which will be made creating just as many emissions as if we were making it here.

"That's why Labour is saying you need £3bn so that just as the United States and other countries in Europe are developing the green steel technology of the future, we will do that so that we are not dependent on the world steel market we make our own.

"We are not then vulnerable to vagaries which could leave us with no steel whatsoever. Leave our defence with no steel at all. What are we going to do if we can't get the steel we need?”

Tata is expected to issue a statement at about 11:30 GMT on Friday.

The company is expected to confirm the closure of two blast furnaces at the Port Talbot steelwork, which will result in the loss of thousands of jobs.

Huw Thomas
Business correspondent, BBC Wales

Shares in Tata Steel have risen by more than 2% in Mumbai in response to the reports about its UK operations.

The company had faced pressure from shareholders to address losses in the British operation, which Tata Steel has previously said amounted to £1m a day.

Its decision to press ahead with the closure of its blast furnaces is pleasing investors, despite the potentially devastating impact on workers and their communities.

Wales' Economy Minister Vaughan Gething says the UK government needs to recognise that the future of the Port Talbot steelworks "is a sovereign issue for the UK".

He tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that shutting the two blast furnaces in south Wales will make the nation reliant on imports of steel for an indeterminate number of years.

It is a matter of "transferring Welsh jobs and emissions to another part of the world", he argues, adding that "the idea that this is a net reduction for the planet is simply not true".

Gething says the government must also recognise that "if levelling up ever meant anything it surely cannot mean the loss of 2,500 direct, well-paid jobs - many more in the wider economy - in one of the least advantaged communities in the whole of the UK".

Gavin Moule, a third generation worker at Tata Steel, says the workforce in Port Talbot "will fight" for the future of the steelworks.

Moule, who has worked at the plant for 20 years, tells BBC Radio 4 that for the "whole of the south Wales corridor, this means everything".

Becoming tearful, he adds: "It's devastating for the community. This runs deep.

"There is not a man or woman on this planet that doesn't want to go down the green route - but we were were promised a just transition. But this has hit us so suddenly.

"There's some honest men and women on that plant who give their all every day.

"We all want a future on that plant... there is a future there. Give us the time, money investment, a fair playing field and we will make Britain proud.

"The workforce there is standing in solidarity and the final whistle hasn't gone on us. We will fight."

Image source, Roo Lewis

Port Talbot steelworks is one of Wales' most striking and familiar landmarks, with its blast furnaces rising into the skyline as passers-by head past on the M4.

That sight has inspired many artists from the town and beyond - including Banksy, who left his mark on the side of a garage in Taibach back in 2018.

But it has also inspired a series of other artists, photographers and singer-songwriters.

Photographer Roo Lewis described it as "dreamland".

Find out more.

Stephen Kinnock, Aberavon MP, says the plans will have a huge impact on the area.

"This is the beating heart of the economy and of our community.

"Not a single household within this Aberavon constituency is not connected to our steelworks.

"Everybody is here looking at what happens in the steelworks, deeply troubled and concerned about it.

"It's the jobs, it's the future for families."

You've just seen what local councillor Rob Jones says about the impact on the community.

This area's faced challenges in the past, so we asked him can it come back from this?

"It feels very different this morning," he tells Radio Wales.

"You know I've been here when this was called Steel Company of Wales, move to British Steel, Corus and now Tata.

"My fear is, if you go back to the '80s, when what happened to the mining industry. That's what's going to happen here.

"We are going to have decimation within this area that will never recover. You show me a mining industry that has recovered from the '80s. None of them recover."

Lucy Vladev
Reporting from Port Talbot

The bitterly cold morning here won’t do much to comfort workers as they arrive here at the steelworks in Port Talbot.

A frosty reception is also what managing director of Tata, TV Narendran, can probably expect.

He is due here to speak to workers ahead of an official announcement by Tata bosses at around 11:30.

There is clearly also wider frustration in the community.

If it’s confirmed by Tata, locals say the job losses will mean many move away from the area, leaving businesses struggling.

Meanwhile, union representatives are out speaking to the press but are reluctant to show too much hope, given the dire potential result at a site which had been part of the landscape here for a century.

We heard a lot about blast furnaces and electric arcs yesterday.

You'd be forgiven for not knowing exactly what they are, so here's the lowdown.

Blast furnaces

They're a big part of what goes on at the Port Talbot site - and tower over it, both clearly visible when you drive past on the M4.

Lumps of iron ore, dug from the ground, are fed into them and come out as purer liquid iron to be turned into steel.

Carbon - in the form of coal - is a key ingredient in the actual chemical process - leading to a lot of CO2 emissions being produced.

Image source, Getty Images

Electric arc furnaces

An electric arc furnace (EAF) recycles scrap metal into steel.

The process uses electric current and is therefore a low-carbon alternative to blast furnaces which rely on coal.

One recent study, external suggested that EAF steelmaking could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 70%.

There is also a lot more automation with an EAF which means fewer workers are required to operate it.

Got it?

Briefly, the unions are saying their proposals for an alternative were rejected by Tata.

A plan put forward by the GMB and Community had argued that one of the blast furnaces should be kept open for a transitional period.

This would be alongside a new electric arc furnace, to safeguard jobs and preserve the UK’s ability to make new steel.

But Tata's been reluctant to do this because of the costs involved in keeping the existing furnaces and support operations going.

GMB national officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said the meeting with Tata had been "tough".

"We need to talk to our members about any detail before we talk to the press," she said.

"Any rejection of the multi-union fund that would avoid any compulsory redundancies and safeguard steel jobs, not just in south Wales, but across the supply chain would be a complete derogation of responsibility for both Tata Steel and the government."

Rob Jones is a councillor of the Margam and Taibach Ward and leader of the Labour group in Port Talbot.

He tells BBC Radio Wales: "There are a lot of people that went to bed last night extremely worried, you know, personally, my brother, my nephew work there.

"I was saying earlier that in the street of houses, nine houses that live right next door to me, five houses there have either got retired steel workers or current workers in those properties.

"I was in a meeting last night with the Aberavon Labour Party, and there was a gentleman that had worked there all his life was crying.

"It is going to affect every single person that lives here and of course, the on effect of the wider community."

Energy analyst Jess Ralston, from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), says that 3,000 job losses "is obviously devastating - but particularly devastating when you realise this didn't have to be the case".

Ralston tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that there was an option to replace the blast furnace in Port Talbot for a hydrogen furnace - a cleaner means of creating virgin steel.

This change, she says, is common across Europe to shore up domestic production.

She adds: "It's going to be quite a period of turmoil for the people who work in this plant, especially because they know we could have done something different and potentially kept their jobs."

Ralston says the government and Tata could have worked together to make a longer term transition plan.

But the lack of a plan in reality "is probably what's going to be most frustrating to people".

Catrin Heledd
BBC Radio Wales, reporting from Taibach RFC near the Port Talbot steelworks

Bore da, good morning from Taibach rugby club, which is just in the shadow of Tata Steel in Port Talbot.

If I just look outside the window, I can just about see the plant and the smoke coming out.

It is such a familiar sight in this part of the world.

This is a rugby club with a history as old as the steelworks itself.

Many former and current steelworkers will have no doubt played for the club or maybe just popped in at the end of a long hard day for a pint or two.

Why are we here? Well, Port Talbot has had a steelworks since the 1900s.

Tata's plans expected to be announced today will lead to job losses.

How many? We will find out very soon.

Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel - which represents the sector in the UK - tells our colleagues on BBC Radio 4's Today programme that more investment in the country's steel plants is needed.

"The sector is, and has been over many years, been going through very difficult times," he explains.

Stace says "weak demand for steel" and the higher operational costs compared to competitors has resulted in the UK "producing and exporting less steel and seeing more importing of steel".

Steel plants are "ageing assets", he adds, "and that's why companies in the UK need and want to invest in their operations, especially in the two blast furnace operations in Port Talbot and Scunthorpe".

Tata Steel's Port Talbot plant is the largest steelworks in the UK; it employs 4,000 of the company's 8,000-strong UK workforce.

The BBC understands the 3,000 job loss figure is UK-wide, but most would be from the Port Talbot site.

This would mean cutting up to 75% of the site's workers.

In Wales the company also has steel processing sites in Llanwern, Shotton, Trostre and Caerphilly. In England the company has staff based in Corby, Hartlepool, Sheffield, Shapfell and the West Midlands.

The Indian-owned firm says it's on a mission to cut carbon.

To do this, it needs to move to a method of steelmaking that will cut emissions.

It also needs to stem its financial losses on its UK operations of £1m a day.

Tata's planning to replace the blast furnaces - which produce new steel from iron ore - with a modern electric arc furnace.

This will produce usable steel from scrap metal. It'll be more environmentally friendly to operate, but needs a smaller workforce.

It's expected to spend £1.25bn - including a £500m UK government subsidy - on the changes.

Lots going on yesterday, so if you missed a bit or could do with a reminder, here’s what you need to know:

• Tata Steel is to push ahead with plans to close both blast furnaces at its Port Talbot works in south Wales, the BBC is told
• It's expected to lead to the loss of 3,000 jobs, with the majority in Port Talbot
• A large proportion of these are expected to be gone by September
• Tata is expected to formally announce the plan at 11:30 GMT today
• The decision follows a meeting in London between Tata executives and trade unions

You can read the story in full here

Welcome back to our second day of live coverage on the developments at Tata Steel.

We’ll be sharing the latest breaking news and reaction after yesterday’s shock announcement.

Stay with us.