Steelmaker Caparo set to go into administration, with the loss of 1,800 jobs
Steelmaker Caparo Industries has gone into administration, PWC has confirmed, as the crisis in the UK's steel sector deepens.
Caparo is set to go into administration with the loss of around 1,700 jobs.
The news follows the closure of the UK's second largest steelmaker, SSI steelworks in Redcar, which was announced this month. The liquidation will lead to over 2,200 job losses and thousands more indirectly related to steelmaking.
Read more: Britain's biggest steelmaker, Tata Steel, is expected to cut around 1,200 jobs
Britain's biggest steelmaker, Tata Steel, is also expected to cut around 1,200 jobs this week, predominantly at its Scunthorpe site.
The UK steel industry has suffered as international competitors are able to manufacture steel at lower prices, at a time when global demand is also waning. Figures from World Steel have suggested global demand will remain muted, falling 1.7 per cent in 2015, with a 0.7 per cent rise in 2017.
Caparo has a turnover of $1.5bn (£969m), and focuses on the design, manufacture and marketing of value-added steel and niche engineering products.
Matt Hammond, lead administrator and partner at PwC, said:
This is a significant business with a wide range of interests across steel, engineering, vehicles products and technologies. Its scale and reach into significant customers and its importance to suppliers cannot be understated. We will be rapidly assessing all options for the businesses through this week and beyond.
Our focus for the next 36 hours is on briefing staff across the group and working closely with their management teams to ensure that every opportunity for these businesses is considered. We will be working with all parties to ensure the best outcome for all creditors of each business.
Joe Morgan, West Midlands regional secretary for GMB, the union for steel workers, said:
This is even more bad news for our members and their families.
David Cameron needs to button hole Chinese President Xi Jinping, while he is in London with his 900 strong entourage, to get a stop to dumping Chinese steel in the UK below the costs of making it. Amber Rudd needs to get on with the energy compensation scheme. Only Government has the power to act. Without immediate action the position facing steel workers is dire.