A Llanelli construction firm has landed a key contract on the £1.25bn transformation of Port Talbot steelworks — with work beginning on site today.
Morganstone, founded in Llanelli and now based in Swansea, will deliver the civil and structural package for the works’ new pickle line, winning the contract through a competitive tender.
It is the company’s first contract with Tata Steel — and its first step onto the biggest industrial site in Wales.
A pickle line cleans hot-rolled steel by submerging it in hydrochloric acid to strip away the scale that forms on its surface, preparing it for the mills that roll and coat the finished product. Tata has previously described the kit as the unsung hero of steelmaking.
The contract marks the shift from demolition and enabling works into the main construction phase on the line, which Tata broke ground on last autumn.
Andrew McGregor, programme manager for Project Invictus — Tata’s name for the transformation — said the appointment was a turning point for the project.
“This marks the start of the construction phase for the new Pickle Line project in Tata Steel UK. It’s a really positive feeling to know we are moving away from demolition and enabling works into construction,” he said.
He said the Morganstone contract covered the installation of the line’s process section, which is “on the critical path” because of the amount of structural steelwork to be installed on the new foundations — ultimately supporting the pickling and rinse tanks themselves.
“The team now continues to work on the remaining civil and structural packages, as there is no time to lose in placing the remaining contracts, with new Pickle Line equipment scheduled to start arriving imminently,” he added.
Mark Davies, who leads the civil and structural works on the project’s mills programme, said in a video published by Tata that securing “a regional contractor with a local workforce” had been important, with the foundation work for one zone of the new line sitting on the critical path.
He said Morganstone’s past projects, quality and programme — and the work ethic of its project management team through the tender — had stood out.
When ground was broken on the new line last September, it was slated to be in place during 2026 — with the main construction phase now only beginning.
The contract also comes weeks after fire damaged the works’ existing pickle line — which Morganstone’s managing director Andrew Pettigrew confirmed remains out of action — with Tata routing work to its Llanwern site while it recovers. The replacement line was planned long before the blaze.
Morganstone was founded in 2008 by Ian Morgan and has grown from its Dafen headquarters into one of Wales’ busier contractors — best known for housing and public buildings, from waterfront apartments at SA1 to the planned 186-home regeneration at Penplas.
Mr Morgan, the firm’s chairman, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed by Tata Steel UK to deliver this important project. The award reflects the capability, experience and commitment of our team and is a significant contract for Morganstone to be involved with.”
“We understand the importance of this project and look forward to working collaboratively with Tata Steel UK to deliver it safely, efficiently and to the highest standards,” he added.
Mr Pettigrew said the contract was one the firm had long chased.
“Working with Tata is something which we’ve been trying to get into for a number of years,” he said, adding that the firm had spent the last three months working through the design and tender process.
Work starts on site today, he said — breaking out the existing slabs first, with piling and the steel frames to follow.
And the job will be built by local hands. “We don’t leave Wales,” said Mr Pettigrew, explaining that almost all the firm’s work sits along the M4 corridor around Swansea — with the frame contractor and groundworker for the pickle line both Swansea-based, and the steel frame partner in Cardiff.
The new pickle line is one strand of Project Invictus at Port Talbot, whose centrepiece is a 3.2 million-tonne-a-year electric arc furnace that will melt scrap steel with electricity rather than coal — backed by £500m of UK Government funding. The furnace itself has been built and is on its way to south Wales.
The transformation followed the closure of the town’s blast furnaces in 2024 with the loss of around 2,000 jobs, and the furnace’s start-up — due in late 2027 or early 2028 — could slip by up to eight months after National Grid connection delays.
Work across the site has accelerated over the past year, from major groundwork and piling across the furnace area to new scrap-handling infrastructure and grid connection works — with around 1,200 people expected on site at peak.
The Llanelli firm will work alongside Tata and the wider Project Invictus team throughout the delivery of the line.
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