UK moves toward nationalizing last steel plant
The British government has opened the door to nationalizing the last primary steelmaking plant in the UK in an emergency bid to keep its blast furnaces running.
According to British Steel’s owner, Chinese company Jingye, the Scunthorpe plant has been operating at a loss of some £700,000 ($916,000) a day, affected by President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel imports into the US, massive CO2 emission fees, and high UK energy prices. The factory’s parent company reportedly turned down a £500 million offer from the British government to keep its blast furnace “virgin steel production” working.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer recalled lawmakers from Easter recess to pass an emergency bill that would allow the UK to step in and take control of any “steel undertaking” at risk of stoppage. Such a recall of parliament has not happened since the Falklands War in 1982.
“The Secretary of State may do anything for the purpose of securing the continued and safe use of the specified assets [of] the steel undertaking” in the event the assets “are at risk of ceasing to be used,” the bill passed on Saturday reads.
Starmer said the government had stepped in to protect UK steel manufacturing.
“All options are on the table to secure the future of the industry,” he said in a statement on X on Saturday.
Jingye retains ownership of the plant as of now, but nationalization is a “likely option,” according to State Secretary for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds.
The UK is currently looking for a company to buy and take over British Steel, according to the BBC.
In a statement to the British state broadcaster, Reynolds said that the market value of the business was “effectively zero” and the UK taxpayer would have to shoulder the steel plant’s £700,000 a day losses.
