£6.5m technology boost for South Yorkshire steel

Tata Steel (formerly Corus) has today announced it is investing £6.5 million in new high-tech equipment at its Stocksbridge plant, South Yorkshire, to increase production of aerospace steels.

The company will install two vacuum arc remelting furnaces and specialist testing equipment to allow it to make more special steels for the aerospace industry. The new equipment will boost Tata Steel's output of these steels by 30%. It will also lead to about 10 new jobs.

Peter Hogg, general manager of Tata Steel Speciality, said: “This investment will make us stronger and help secure the jobs of 2,000 South Yorkshire steelworkers. It's a big confidence boost.”

The aircraft industry is forecast to grow strongly in coming years to cater for increased passenger numbers in emerging economies, an increase in global air freight and the introduction of new fuel efficient planes.

Hogg added: “As the demand for aerospace steel increases, it's vital we have the ability to increase our production of this highly technical and demanding product, which is used in aircraft landing gear, engines, wings and other safety-critical components.

“Customers want higher quality, higher strength and superior performance steels. This investment demonstrates our commitment to continue supplying steel to the most demanding applications in the world.”

In April 2009 Tata Steel opened a service centre in Suzhou, China to supply aerospace steel products to the country's growing aircraft industry. And earlier this year Tata Steel recruited more than 300 people into its South Yorkshire business to support operations.

www.tatasteel.com