Workers' relief as 100 jobs secured at factory
German bosses had proposed the closure of the ThyssenKrupp plant (Camford Pressings) in Felinfoel last April.
But the company has just revealed that the Llanelli plant will survive for another year.
And in further good news for the recession-hit town, the plant will also take on more jobs.
The news comes as ThyssenKrupp announced that it was to close its Bourn plant near Cambridge, with the transfer of work to other ThyssenKrupp Tallent sites.
A company spokesman said: "Employees at the company's Llanelli plant have been briefed on the implications of this decision for their future.
"They too were informed of a possible closure last year.
"Llanelli employees were informed that their site cannot close in the immediate future because it would simply not be feasible for the Llanelli work to be moved to other sites until the Bourn work is transferred and the expected quality and efficiency levels reached.
"At that point, the long-term future of Llanelli will be decided with UK plant volumes and capabilities being the major factor.
"Therefore, while Llanelli's long-term future sadly remains uncertain, employees are now aware that some of the Bourn work could be transferred to Llanelli and generate more jobs at the site."
The company said that despite the recent improvements in volume in the automotive industry, it was still faced with "significant overcapacity" at its plants.
The company had blamed a drop in orders for last April's decision to close the Llanelli plant.
It was a huge blow to the recession-hit area.
The Assembly Government said at the time it stood "ready to help".
The factory, which mainly produces parts for Land Rover and Bentley, has been based in Llanelli since 1960.
It was sold in 1989 to Camford and was taken over in the late 1990s by Germany-based Krupp to become Krupp Camford Pressings.
Llanelli MP Nia Griffith welcomed the announcement. She said: "Obviously this is welcome news for workers at ThyssenKrupp, who were obviously worried about the future.
"Now, at least they will be able to look forward to more security.
"Bringing jobs to the area is the most important way of improving living standards and putting more money into the local economy.
"I very much hope that the increased numbers of workers they now have in ThyssenKrupp can be maintained and that we could see more work come this way."
shaun.greaney@swwmedia.co.uk
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