Unions welcomed the announcement, following a spate of job losses in the steel industry and fears for the future of Tata’s long products business.
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Around 620 workers at the Port Talbot plant are set to be laid off while 115 job cuts will be made at the Llanwern plant – which was partly mothballed last August.
It’s expected the steel company will announced the job cuts tomorrow, with the bulk of the job losses likely to be at sites in Wales.
Thousands of United Kingdom steel jobs have gone since last summer, triggering the collapse of SSI’s Redcar plant and Caparo Industries in the Midlands.
Tata Steel now employs more than 6,000 people in its Welsh steel plants alone.
A Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) spokesman said he wouldn’t comment on commercial matters.
British steelmakers pay some of the highest energy costs and green taxes in the world and are also struggling to compete with record Chinese steel imports.
It is estimated the Port Talbot plant is losing £1 million a week.
The company employs 4,500 directly at its Port Talbot works, and many more through its supply chain.
Mr Stace added: “While we have seen action from the Government to tackle the steel crisis, the market conditions have further deteriorated since the steel crisis summit in October previous year”.
But unions believe more should be done to support the troubled sector.
A Tata spokesperson said: ‘The crisis in the steel industry, and other foundation industries, is an worldwide one and has been going on for a great time.
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Tata, which cut 1,200 jobs at its sites in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire in October, would not confirm the news.
