The Tata Steel plant is seen in Port Talbot, south Wales, November 23, 2012.
REUTERS/Rebecca Naden/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The British government is in advanced talks with Tata Steel, the country's biggest steel producer, to provide 500 million pounds ($629 million) of funding to help secure the long-term future of a key part of its steel industry, Sky News reported on Saturday.
But the talks have faced difficulties over potential job losses because the new style furnaces require fewer staff.
About 8,000 people are employed by Tata Steel in Britain and Sky News cited industry sources as saying the company had warned that it may need to make as many as 3,000 redundancies in the future.
Tata Steel has in the past warned that without government support, it will need to consider closing its sites.
Persons:
Rebecca Naden, Sarah Young, John Stonestreet, Ros Russell
Organizations:
Tata, REUTERS, British, Tata Steel, Sky News, Port, British Steel, government's Department for Business, Trade, Thomson
Locations:
Port Talbot, Wales, Britain