I am a little late with this one as the news broke just before Christmas!
Anyway Steel maker Alphasteel has gone into administration, leaving a question mark hanging over about 350 jobs in south Wales.
Receiver Begbies Traynor is trying to find a buyer for the Newport-based group after Swiss-based owner Satico said it was no longer in a position to support the company financially. Satico, headed by industrialist Rostami Safa, bought Alphasteel in July 2003.
The rolled steel and steel coil maker has not produced steel for a number of weeks, and production during the rest of 2007 has been patchy due to lack of funds, Begbies said.
London-based receiver for Begbies, Simon Thomas, said international steel producers had already expressed interest in buying the company, although he did not identify them.
'A sale of the business in the new year would allow Alphasteel to return to full production,' he said.
Trade union Community described the development as terrible news for Alphasteel's staff and their families, coming just four days before Christmas.
'Community has desperately tried to help the company out of the situation it has found itself in, but it became apparent they were incapable of helping themselves,' general secretary Michael Leahy said.
'Our first priority will be to work with the receiver, the Welsh Assembly government and other appropriate bodies to try and find a buyer for what should be -- in the current steel market -- a profitable company.'
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