EU tariffs leave UK steel industry facing ‘biggest threat ever’ October 7, 2025 The UK’s ailing steel sector is facing the “biggest crisis in its history”, industry chiefs have warned, after the European Union unveiled plans to double tariffs on all steel imports in a bid to revive its moribund steelmaking capacity. As part of efforts to kickstart a “reindustrialisation of Europe“, EU commissioners signed off a proposal [...]
Government takes control of UK’s third-largest steelworks after collapse August 21, 2025 The UK government has taken control of the country’s third-largest steelworks as near 1,500 workers face uncertainty. Speciality Steels UK (SSUK), which owns major sites such as Liberty Steel in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, was put into compulsory liquidation after insolvency courts granted a winding-up order sought by creditors. The creditors said they were owned hundreds [...]
Trump hails relationship with Starmer – but no steel exemptions yet July 28, 2025 In a Scottish golfing holiday that has swiftly given way to a multi-sided international summit, Keir Starmer has held a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump which has spanned from the UK-US trading relationship to immigration policy and international conflicts. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds had tempered expectations of immediate steel tariff progress ahead of the meeting, [...]
Saving British Steel leaves taxpayers with £900m bill June 25, 2025 The government’s decision to take emergency control of British Steel is poised to cost the taxpayer just short of £1bn, according to initial government estimates, sparking warnings from opposition politicians that the Chancellor’s narrow fiscal headroom is in jeopardy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) expects the public finances to suffer a £900m hit from [...]
British Steel secures £500m contract with Network Rail June 17, 2025 British Steel has won a £500m contract with Network Rail in a deal that helps secure the future of its Scunthorpe steelworks. The agreement will see British Steel supply up to 80,000 tonnes of rail per year to the body which manages the UK’s railway infrastructure, around 80 per cent of the track it needs. [...]
British Steel braces for fresh Trump tariff blow June 3, 2025 The British steel industry is gearing up for the hammer blow of fresh US tariffs after Downing Street could not confirm that steelmakers would be exempt from the levies. The UK government unveiled a trade deal with the US last month, under which metal exports would be exempted from punitive tariffs. But negotiations on the [...]
ONS set to weigh up cost to public purse of British Steel rescue April 29, 2025 The UK’s official statistics body has begun an assessment of the cost of running British Steel since the loss-making business was rescued by the government, Morning Wire can reveal, in what could prove to be another blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ fiscal targets. The UK’s top statistician Professor Sir Ian Diamond said the Office for [...]
Fuel for blast furnaces and iron ore supplies arrive at British Steel April 27, 2025 Steelworkers at Scunthorpe have been given a more certain future with the arrival of new raw materials to operate British Steel’s blast furnaces, ministers have announced. 55,000 tonnes of blast furnace coke have arrived in the UK to fuel the Scunthorpe plant in North Lincolnshire, and a shipment of more than 66,000 tonnes of iron ore pellets and 27,000 [...]
Fuel for blast furnaces and iron ore supplies arrive at British Steel April 27, 2025 Steelworkers at Scunthorpe have been given a more certain future with the arrival of new raw materials to operate British Steel’s blast furnaces, ministers have announced. 55,000 tonnes of blast furnace coke have arrived in the UK to fuel the Scunthorpe plant in North Lincolnshire, and a shipment of more than 66,000 tonnes of iron [...]
British Steel cancels mass redundancy plans April 22, 2025 Thousands of steel workers have breathed a sigh of relief after the threat of mass redundancies was withdrawn following a government decision to put British Steel into public ownership. China-based Jingye, the Scunthorpe plant’s former owner, said last month it was consulting on up to 2,700 job losses after it rejected a £500m subsidy from [...]