The investment, which includes expanding the plant’s two furnaces and installing two gas-cutting machines and a stamping and marking machine, will reportedly boost the output from the specialist plant to 3,200 tonnes per week and lead to the creation of about 26 new jobs next spring.
‘The Clydebridge plant specialises in producing difficult-to-make high-strength steels used in some of the most challenging environments around the world,’ said Jon Bolton, director of Tata Steel’s Long Products Hub. ‘Increasing our capability at Clydebridge will help us to maximise the value of the steel plate we make in the UK and make this business more competitive and sustainable.
Workers at Clydebridge carry out quenching and tempering processes that involve heating the steel plate to up to 1,000°C before cooling it — either rapidly using water, or gradually.
These processes alter the microstructure of the steel to improve its strength and the finished product is typically used in the mining and energy-exploration sectors.
About 100 people are currently employed in Clydebridge, with a further 230 at the nearby Dalzell plate-rolling mill in Motherwell, which received £8m last August for a new heavy-duty press and other equipment.
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