Sat, 12 Apr 2025

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 Why is British Steel in trouble and who owns it?

MPs are having an emergency debate on the future of the UK's only remaining plant making virgin steel.

* The UK government will pass an emergency law to take control of the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe, which employs 2,700 people and is at risk of closure.
* The plant produces virgin steel, which is used in major construction projects, and its loss would leave the UK as the only G7 country without this capability.
* British Steel's new owner, Jingye, has begun a 45-day consultation on job cuts and claims that the blast furnaces are no longer sustainable due to market conditions and costs associated with transitioning to lower-carbon production.
* The government will give itself the power to assume control of some of the site's operations, including ordering raw materials and directing the workforce and board.
* The intervention stops short of nationalization but would allow employees who are sacked by Jingye to be reinstated.
* Unions have called for nationalization to protect the UK's steel industry, which contributed £2.3 billion to the economy in 2023.
* The government has ordered MPs back from their Easter break to pass the emergency law, and talks with Jingye have largely broken down.
* The situation is described as a "cliff-edge" by unions, who say that without intervention, the plant will close and the industry will be severely impacted.
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