Mon, 14 Apr 2025

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 Race to keep furnaces burning at British Steel plant

The government is working to obtain coal to power the company's furnaces after passing an emergency law to take control of its site.

* The UK government is working to deliver essential raw materials to British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, which has two blast furnaces that need coking coal and iron ore to operate.
* An emergency law passed on Saturday gives the government control over the plant to prevent its Chinese owner from shutting it down.
* Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said his team is already working to keep jobs going and the furnaces burning, with dozens of businesses offering help and supplies.
* Restarting a furnace that has been shut down can cause permanent damage and be costly and complex, making it urgent for materials to reach the site quickly.
* The government is trying to secure a shipment of materials stuck at Immingham Docks, 30 miles east of Scunthorpe, after Reynolds refused to confirm on Sunday whether they could obtain them in time.
* The Scunthorpe plant employs 2,700 people and is the last site in the UK that can produce virgin steel, making its closure a risk to the country's economic security.
* The government fast-tracked legislation to take control of the plant after talks with Jingye broke down over financial support for the site, which was losing £700,000 a day.
* Reynolds said Jingye demanded more than twice as much money (£1.4m) as an offer of £500m and refused guarantees that it would keep the plant open.
* The Conservatives have criticized the government for not acting sooner to save the plant, but supported the emergency law to prevent its closure.
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