Steel cuts hurt
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Steel hauliers are braced for a slump In work in the wake of a rationalisation programme which will cut UK steel production by nearly 8%.
South Wales is bearing the brunt of the cuts by Corus, formerly British Steel, which is axing 100 jobs at Port Talbot and mothballing one of two blast furnaces currently operated at Lianwern strip mill complex.
Duncan Kiley, general manager of Llanelli-based Owens Road Services, expects a 10-15% downturn in work from the Anglo-Dutch company. However, redundancies are ruled out In the short-term. "We have spent £1.7m over the past two years on replacement and additional equipment for the Corus contract," he says. "Obviously we are very concerned about the situation. If they are going to cut back on production, that would reduce tonnage on trailers."
Geoff Lane, business director for Bridgendbased Stiller Carlin°, says 123 of its trucks haul for Gerus but he does not yet know what impact the cut-backs will have.
Carus is shedding 210 jobs nationwide having reduced its workforce by 4,000 since June, It blames an adverse business climate, warning: "The level of order Intake is under review constantly and further changes to levels of operations cannot be ruled out."