Businesses in the UK steel industry are being backed by the Government as the Business Secretary launches the Plan for Steel Consultation.
This will look at the long-term issues facing the UK steel industry, such as high electricity costs, unfair trading practices, and scrap metal recycling, to protect jobs and living standards in the UK’s industrial heartlands.
Up to £2.5bn will be put towards supporting the steel industry, including via the National Wealth Fund. This could benefit regions across the UK – like Scunthorpe, Rotherham, Redcar, Yorkshire, and Scotland – which have a strong history of steel production.
It will be spent on initiatives that will give the industry a long future – such as electric arc furnaces or other improvements to UK capabilities.
Securing the UK steel supply chain
This week, Heathrow Airport announced a multimillion-pound investment, which will require 400,000 tonnes of steel – enough to build the Empire State Building.
This will give the UK steel industry a strong pipeline of business that will secure supply chains for years to come – and will drive economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.
The Government also simplified public procurement and aligned it with the Government’s missions, including the Industrial Strategy, to put the industry in the best possible position to compete for and win public contracts.
Other measures include delivering a better deal for Port Talbot within weeks of taking office, which will transform production at Port Talbot and deliver a modern Electric Arc Furnace, and implementing the British Industry Supercharger, which will cut electricity costs for steel firms and bring prices more in line with international competitors.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “The UK steel industry has a long-term future under this Government. We said that during the election, and we are delivering on it now.
“Britain is open for business, and this Government has committed up to £2.5bn to the future of steel to protect our industrial heartlands, maintain jobs, and drive growth as part of our Plan for Change.”
Tackling industry issues with the Plan for Steel
The Plan for Steel will help with the issues which have been holding the industry back for too long. It will look at ways to:
- Identify where there are opportunities to expand UK steelmaking to better support UK manufacturing, construction, infrastructure and growth – and secure UK jobs and livelihoods.
- Protect the steel sector from unfair trading practices abroad.
- Improve our scrap processing facilities so they can best support the steel-making of the future.
- Encourage high usage of UK steel in public projects.
To make the UK competitive globally, the Plan for Steel will examine the electricity costs for steel companies.
Assessing scrap metal processing for high-quality materials
The Plan will also look at ways to improve the UK’s scrap metal processing capabilities in light of the industry’s ongoing transition to electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, which recycles scrap steel by melting it to produce high-quality steel and other metals.
It will assess the UK’s primary steelmaking capabilities and primary production technologies with a commissioned independent review, currently being carried out by the not-for-profit Material Processing Institute based in Teesside.
The Government will work closely with the Steel Council towards the launch of the Steel Strategy in the Spring, and the Council will continue to meet regularly following its publication to help drive investment into steelmaking communities across the country.
