IT IS DISAPPOINTING to be reporting once again on the potential for major job losses in Newport.

In the wake of the recent earth-shattering Avana Bakeries’ announcement, we now hear that Orb Electrical Steels says that up to 120 workers there could be at risk of losing their jobs.

It seems that demand for Tata steel products has fallen off to such an extent that the company has little option but to let staff go, which is devastating for a workforce which has deemed to have been very flexible in recent years.

This is a terrible blow for all concerned.

And our first thoughts are with the workers and their families who are just beginning to digest the news.

Once again here is a company with a long and proud history of being based in Newport facing having to make impossibly tough decisions.

The one glimmer of hope for Orb is that owners Tata Steel say that if it acts now it is hoped that the116-year-old plant, which currently employs 400 people, can be saved.

That is not much comfort for those who are about to lose their jobs.

However, it does mean that in the future if demand picks up again the company may well be in a stronger position.

It is also of course another major hit for the local economy which will undoubtedly be affected by the loss of so many jobs in one go.