The Llanwern plant suffered cuts in 2001

On Tuesday, the Anglo-Dutch steel firm announced it was planning "significant" reductions in capacity at UK plants in an attempt to stop losing �1m a day.

Union representatives are now seeking an urgent meeting with Corus managers to discuss the announcement.

It is thought the Port Talbot works will be safe, but some analysts expect Corus to complete the closure of the Llanwern works, in Newport, which still employs 1,500 people.

However, the company is facing intense pressure from unions and politicians to keep its UK plants open.

In Tuesday's announcement, the steelmaker refused to go into details but has warned that it needed to reduce its losses of almost �400m.

Corus jobs in Wales 8,000 in total Port Talbot - 3,000 Llanwern, Newport - 1,500 Trostre, Llanelli - 1,000 Shotton, Flintshire - 800

Some analysts picked out plants at Teesside and Scunthorpe as the most vulnerable to closure.

However, Port Talbot, which employs 3,000 people directly with around 5,500 contractors in addition, is also one of Corus' top UK plants and the announcement has inevitably prompted fears for its future.

If Port Talbot were to close, experts estimate that for every job which could go at the site, an equal number of jobs would be lost in the wider economy of south and west Wales.

This would follow on from 3,000 job cuts Corus made at its plants in Wales in 2001.

However, Corus invested �75m in a new blast furnace at Port Talbot after an explosion in November 2001 which killed three workers.

The new furnace was opened in January 2003 - a development which was seen as a sign of the firm's commitment to steel-making at the site.

Elsewhere in Wales, 1,000 workers are employed at Trostre in Llanelli and 800 at Shotton in Flintshire.

Other staff also work at a variety of ancillary works and services.