The UK's Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has expressed concerns about the supply of raw materials to Scunthorpe's blast furnaces amid uncertainty surrounding Chinese owner Jingye. The government intervened due to what appears to be a significant shift in Jingye's operations, which includes not ordering and selling off existing raw materials. The potential closure could lead to economic losses estimated at £1 billion and significant job cuts. A decision regarding the nationalisation of the plant is expected soon, though Reynolds refrained from discussing operational guarantees due to commercial sensitivities.
The conscious decision not just to not order raw materials, but to sell existing supplies of raw materials, is the significant change that required the government to step in.
The costs to the economy of closing the plant and losing the country's steelmaking capacity plus the major job losses it entailed would have been at least 1bn.
Reynolds said the UK had given ourselves the opportunity, we are in control of the site, my officials are on site right now to give us a chance to do that.
Reynolds told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg he would not make my situation or the nation's situation more difficult by giving more details on whether the steel blast furnaces would be able to continue operating.
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