Tata Steel UK is moving faster with its plans to make cleaner, greener steel. The company has given a big contract to JASO Industrial Cranes, a company that makes heavy-duty cranes used in factories. This is part of Tata Steel’s £1.25 billion project to make steel in a more eco-friendly way at its Port Talbot site in South Wales.
A new type of furnace called an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) will be built and should be ready by 2028. This furnace will help cut carbon emissions at the site by 90%, or about five million tonnes every year. It will also be one of the biggest furnaces of its kind in the world.
JASO will supply seven large cranes for this new setup. These include:
- Two giant 500-tonne cranes to carry hot, liquid steel.
- Two 80-tonne cranes to handle scrap metal used to make new steel.
- Two 35-tonne cranes to help with repairs and maintenance.
These cranes are key for making steel in a cleaner and more efficient way. Tata Steel and JASO have worked together before — in 2019, JASO replaced an old crane that had been used for 60 years.
This new project is an important step as Tata Steel moves from using coal-based blast furnaces to cleaner electric furnaces that recycle local scrap metal. Port Talbot is the UK’s biggest steel plant, making up to three million tonnes of steel each year and employing about 8,000 people.
