UK Steel Policy in Flux as Minister “Forced to Change Plans”

The UK’s strategy for its steel industry is in flux, with the Business Secretary admitting the government has been “forced to change plans” due to a “slew of crises” hitting the global sector. This pivot will be detailed in a December strategy, but its key element is a move to electric arc furnaces (EAFs) at British Steel.
Peter Kyle’s admission points to the extreme pressure the government is under. He cited a “highly complex global environment,” including trade tariffs and oversupply from China, as factors complicating the rescue of the state-controlled Scunthorpe plant.
This reactive policymaking has come at a high cost. “Hundreds of millions” from the £2.5bn steel fund have already been spent on emergency support for British Steel and Liberty Steel, leaving less for the long-term investments the new strategy will call for.
The new plan—to back EAFs—solves the carbon problem but creates two new ones. It threatens the jobs of thousands of blast furnace workers and scraps the UK’s “primary steelmaking” capability, a capacity the government had previously pledged to protect.
Industry and union responses show the difficulty of this new path. Unions are demanding a “just transition” and the retention of primary steelmaking. Industry, meanwhile, is demanding lower energy prices and “robust trade policies” to survive the very crises Kyle mentioned.