WELSH steel will play a central role in Wales' economic recovery while becoming a greener industry, the nation's new economy minister said today.

Vaughan Gething, speaking after a meeting with Westminster's business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng at the second meeting of the reconstituted UK Steel Council, said his focus would be on helping Welsh steel producers "transition to a low-carbon future".

The industry in Wales has endured a difficult few years, capped by the closure last summer of the 122-year-old Orb Electrical Steel plant in Newport.

Some 33,700 people are employed by the steel industry across the UK and the sector remains a key employer at sites in South and North Wales.

But short- and long-term climate goals, including a reduction in emissions, pose challenges for the industry, and Mr Gething said government in Cardiff Bay and Westminster would need to work together to make British steel-making a 'greener' sector of the economy.

Industrial and business-related activity represented more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in Wales in 2018. Of those sectors' total emissions, steel and iron production accounted for 43 per cent.

READ MORE:

"We need a strong partnership with the UK government, given the significant economic levers it holds, which are key to industrial decarbonisation," the economy minister said this afternoon.

“My message at today’s meeting of the UK Steel Council was clear: we must all work in partnership – the Welsh and UK governments, the steel industry and with the unions – to deliver this transition, which will help us build a fairer, greener and more prosperous Wales.”

The UK government said Mr Kwarteng today underscored Westminster's "commitment to working in partnership with the steel industry to support its transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future, while acknowledging the scale of the challenge".

The steel sector continues to face a number of issues including the need to reduce carbon emissions, high UK electricity prices and issues around trade.

This week's meeting was also attended by representatives from the UK's major steel-making companies and trade unions involved in the sector, as well as Luis Sanz, who chairs the trade body UK Steel.

This article originally appeared on our sister site The National.