"British Steel was losing 700,000 a day last year when its Chinese owner announced plans to shut the steelworks at Scunthorpe. After Jingye rejected support to buy raw materials, the UK government stepped in with emergency legislation to take control of the plant. But that was not the end of the crisis. The cost to the government of propping up British Steel is now more than 1.2m a day. Yet the 359m bill, the latest disclosed to parliament last month, may only be the start."
"The UK steel industry is in a rut. In 1970, the country produced 28m tonnes of steel. That fell to 4m tonnes in 2024, and to only 2.5m tonnes last year the lowest output since the reign of Queen Victoria. That fall was mostly caused by the temporary shutdown of Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks as it switches from polluting blast furnaces to cleaner and more efficient electric arc furnaces (EAFs)."
British Steel lost 700,000 a day last year when its Chinese owner announced plans to close Scunthorpe, and Jingye declined support to buy raw materials. The UK government used emergency legislation to take control of the plant and is now covering more than 1.2m in losses each day, with a 359m bill disclosed to parliament that may be only the start. Nearly a year later, the future of the blast furnaces, rolling mills and about 4,000 workers remains unclear. UK steel production has fallen from 28m tonnes in 1970 to 2.5m tonnes last year, driven partly by factory conversions to EAFs and temporary shutdowns.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]