Feb 16 (Reuters) - British trade unions Unite and Community, which represent thousands of members at Tata Steel Ltd's Port Talbot steelworks, said on Friday they will begin the balloting process for industrial action.

The move comes after Tata Steel said last month that it would close its two blast furnaces in Britain by the end of this year, with the loss of up to 2,800 jobs at its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales.

Unite will formally notify Tata of its intention to ballot for industrial action on March 1, and industrial action could begin before the end of April, the union said in a statement.

"Industrial action is always a last resort but Tata's actions mean we now have to prepare for that eventuality", Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of Community union said in a separate statement.

"Much of our existing iron and steelmaking operation in Port Talbot is at the end of its life, is unreliable and inefficient, and contributing to losses of 1.7 million pounds ($2.14 million)a day in the last quarter alone," a Tata Steel spokesperson said.

"Our restructuring proposals would mean that we are able to sustain the business," the spokesperson added.

Tata Steel has started a formal information sharing and consultation process with its trade union colleagues and the discussion will cover the support to be provided for affected employees, the company spokesperson said. ($1 = 0.7936 pound) (Reporting by Disha Mishra and Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis)