Newport has a proud industrial history much of it ‘founded’ in the steel industry. It is in our DNA with many families and generations of families who have made their living at the various steel plants or subsidiaries.
Newport’s steel industry grew out of its broader industrial and maritime rise during the 18th and 19th centuries. Its location on the River Usk and proximity to the South Wales coalfields made it a natural hub for heavy industry.
- In the early 1800s, ironworks dominated — especially at Ebbw Vale, Tredegar, and Blaenavon, with Newport serving as a key export port.
- As technology advanced, steelmaking began replacing iron by the late 19th century, following the introduction of the Bessemer and open-hearth processes.
Expansion and Peak (1890s–1970s)
Newport became an important part of the rapidly growing South Wales steel belt, centred on towns like Port Talbot, Llanwern, and Ebbw Vale. Newport sites included the Lysaghts work, the Tube Works and Whiteheads.
- Llanwern Steelworks (officially Spencer Works) opened in 1962, east of Newport, as one of Europe’s most modern integrated steel plants. It symbolised post-war industrial ambition and was closely associated with nationalised industry under the British Steel Corporation.
- The site employed thousands at its peak and was one of the UK’s few fully integrated plants (from iron ore to finished steel
Decline and Restructuring (1980s–2000s)
Globalisation, changing demand, and government policy saw UK steelmaking shrink from the 1980s onward.
- In the 1990s, much of Llanwern’s blast furnace capacity was closed. It ceased ironmaking in 2001, though steel rolling and finishing continued.
- The British Steel Corporation was privatised in 1988, became Corus in 1999 (after a merger with Dutch firm Hoogovens), and was later bought by Tata Steel in 2007.
Today’s Operations and Legacy
While Newport no longer produces raw steel, finishing and processing continue:
- Tata Steel still operates a rolling mill and cold strip processing facility at Llanwern.
- Nearby Liberty Steel (part of the GFG Alliance) also operated a hot rolling mill at Newport, now closed
- The city retains a skilled industrial workforce and infrastructure, though employment is vastly reduced.
- Steelmaking shaped Newport’s economy, urban form, and working-class identity.
- The decline of heavy industry created social and economic challenges, but also opportunities for regeneration.
- Llanwern and other sites remain symbols of both industrial pride and the challenges of post-industrial transition.
RTB Spencer Works Llanwern
- Built as part of a major post-war investment in British heavy industry, Llanwern was developed by Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd (RTB), a major steel company.
- Construction began in the late 1950s on greenfield land at Llanwern, and the plant officially opened in 1962 by the Queen.
- Named Spencer Works, after H.F. Spencer, a native of Wolverhampton, then managing director of RTB.
- Designed as a fully integrated steelworks, it included:
- Blast furnaces
- Basic oxygen steelmaking
- Rolling mills and finishing lines
- At its peak, it employed over 10,000 people and was regarded as a symbol of modern industrial progress.
In 1967, RTB and other steelmakers were nationalised to form the British Steel Corporation.
Llanwern remained a flagship plant, receiving substantial investment in technology and capacity. However, by the late 1970s and 1980s, global overcapacity, falling demand, and rising costs led to rationalisation across UK steelworks. Employment and output began to decline, though Llanwern still retained strategic importance.
British Steel was privatised in 1988, merged with Dutch firm Hoogovens in 1999 to form Corus, and was later taken over by Tata Steel in 2007.
Llanwern won an open internal competition in the 1990s with the Ravenscraig to become British Steel’s leading hot strip mill, leading to the controversial closure of the Scottish plant.
But this reprieve was short lived. Llanwern’s blast furnaces and primary steelmaking operations were closed in 2001, ending integrated production at the site with the loss of 1300 jobs. With hot steel slab now imported by rail from nearby Port Talbot the mothballed “heavy end” of the Llanwern works was resultantly demolished in 2004.
Rolling and finishing operations were retained, particularly in cold-rolled strip used in automotive and packaging sectors. Parts of the site were mothballed, and much land was released for redevelopment.
Lysaghts Orb Works
The Orb Ironworks at Newport opened in 1898, and by 1901 most of the machinery at Wolverhampton, and many of the employees, had transferred to Newport. For many years copies of the Wolverhampton Express & Star were delivered regularly to newsagents in Newport, and the works football team formed the basis of what became Newport County. See our article – Wolverhampton Connection
The steelworks were producers of grain oriented steel for use in electric motors, generators, transformers, etc.member of the Eastern Group of firms organised under the Ministry of Munitions, making a significant contribution
In World War One the works had to adapt to the rolling of brass and zinc for war purposes due to the excess of rolling mills already working with steel. William Lysaght became a key figure in the Ministry of Munitions for his insights into the steel and spelter industry.
Under W.R. Lysaght, the works had 3,000 employees, including 600 women, and produced 175,000 tons per year, mostly for export. Daniel Connor Lysaght (1869–1940) became the works manager and led the company’s expansion into electrical steel a partnership with the Joseph Sankey Company. In 1912, the company ended its reliance on bought-in steel by opening its first steelworks in Scunthorpe. Its weekly output of 6,500 tons was shipped to Newport for rolling. By 1913, the Newport ironworks had 42 mills, driven by six steam engines, and the works’ chimneys were a major landmark.
In 1920, Guest Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN) acquired the John Lysaght company, including its works at Newport, Bristol, and Scunthorpe. Seymour Berry, chairman of John Lysaght, and another director, then joined the board of GKN.
In 1921 the company established an Australian subsidiary in New South Wales and some of the Newport workers emigrated there to start up the new mills.
The works finally closed in 2020. The company cited competition from China and the high cost of upgrading the plant to remain competitive as key factors in the decision.
Whitehead’s
In 1914 Whitehead Iron and Steel Co considered moving from Tredegar to Newport, where the company had purchased land. In 1920 a New mill installed at Newport.
In 1933 a electro-galvanising process was a great success – the company was the only manufacturer of this method, now part of modern steelmaking.
In 1946 the company had 1500 employees. It was nationalised under the Iron and Steel Act in 1951.
1962 The British Cabinet decided that Stewarts and Lloyds attempt to acquire Whitehead Iron and Steel Co (in order to improve integration in the British steel industry) should be prevented. RTB’s duly made a counter-offer, saying it wanted to protect its market as Whiteheads, an independent reroller, was one of the major customers for slab produced by its new plant at Redbourn in Scunthorpe. Baldwins bid was eventually successful.
Though smaller than later plants like Llanwern, Whitehead’s was notable for its technical expertise, local employment, and contribution to wartime steel production during both World Wars.
The works were gradually wound down during the 1970s and 1980s as steel production consolidated at sites like Port Talbot and Llanwern.
The plant was eventually closed and demolished, and the site has since been redeveloped for commercial and residential use.
The name lives on in Whitehead Sports & Social Club, and in local history projects documenting Newport’s industrial heritage
Stewarts and Lloyds
British Mannesman Tube Company – 1913 In order to meet increasing demand, the site for a new tube works was found at Newport by Mannesman brothers from Germany.
In 1922 the United Tube Works Ltd was opened on 100 acre site at Corporation Road to produce large, seamless steel tubes.
Purchased in 1943 by Stewarts & Lloyds Ltd. The works closed in 1973 with the loss of 1,100 jobs as the nationalised British Steel decided to focus on tubes produced in Clydesdale. Roy Hughes MP for Newport described it as a ‘a severe blow to the economy of the town of Newport and all the surrounding districts.’