British Steel Blasts Ahead

Simon Boyd, managing director of REIDsteel, said: “What next - nationalisation, investment and an end to the mad race for net zero?

“Now that the raw materials are in place and the blast furnaces can continue to operate, the government must take the next step to take British Steel into full public ownership.

“That is the only way that the company is going to get the investment it needs to make long term gains for the industry, economy and country, and attract appropriate future private investment. “Our government must learn the lessons of the past; when putting a core industry into public-private ownership it must as a minimum hold a golden share.

“I fully support the new management team that have been put in place at British Steel as they are fundamental to its future success. “Government must now fully support the company to produce an achievable and costed investment programme that will deliver for the British people over the long term.

“Let’s remember that governments have provided billions to support the financial sector.

“According to the House of Commons Library, during the 2007 to 2009 banking crisis the government injected £137bn of public money in loans and capital to stabilise the financial system, costing the public £23bn overall. “In addition, the government provided £1 trillion of guarantees to restore confidence in the banks.

The ask for British Steel will be high, but it will be a fraction of the level provided for banks. “The government must also adopt a more strategic approach and ensure that British Steel is not excluded by specifiers in the UK.

“Those who currently specify Low Carbon Targets in construction, including devolved nations like Wales, automatically exclude British Steel as a supplier because we do not have the capability to produce low carbon steel. It will take at least five years to get Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs) up and running.

“That means getting to grips with the nonsensical, unrealistic and damaging race to net zero targets which are pushing up energy costs and forcing specifiers to choose steel with a lower carbon content in projects.

“Businesses, the public sector and other specifiers must be able to procure virgin British Steel, so government must act immediately to remove any barrier to using British Steel. Indeed, government should make it a mandatory requirement wherever it is appropriate.

“Notwithstanding the above, we must not restrict our options to EAFs and to existing blast furnace methods. We must take this opportunity to invest in the latest steelmaking technologies for both virgin and recycled steel.

 “In doing this, we will ensure we have the capabilities to make all the grades of steel we require while being the cleanest producers of the best quality steel in the world.



“I’m in favour of reducing the UK’s carbon footprint but a continued insistence on short-term net zero targets is not only damaging to UK manufacturing but risks choking off the rebirth of British Steel.”