Category Archives: Steel industry

China ‘strongly dissatisfied’ with nationalisation of British Steel

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Move dealt ‘severe blow to Chinese companies’ confidence in investing in the UK’, says Ministry of Commerce

China’s government has said it is “strongly dissatisfied” with the decision to nationalise British Steel this week, 15 months after the UK government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.

On Thursday, British Steel was brought under public ownership to protect “the future of steel production”, the government announced.

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EU quota system ‘could kill Ukrainian steel industry’, boss says

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Protectionist measures will deal blow to country’s budget as it defends itself against Russia, says Metinvest chief

New EU limits on steel imports could destroy Ukraine’s industry and deal a big blow to the country’s budget as it defends itself against Russia, according to the head of its biggest steelmaker.

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, the chief executive of Metinvest, said the new EU quota system due on 1 July could “kill the Ukrainian steel industry”.

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Unions attack ‘year-long delay’ for Tata Steel furnace’s grid connection in south Wales

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Government urged to help speed up vital industrial project amid growing alarm over National Grid delays

Trade unions have called for the government to intervene to speed up Tata Steel’s connection to the electricity grid in south Wales, after the company said its new furnace would be delayed by up to a year.

Tata Steel last month told investors that National Grid had said it would face a six- to eight-month delay. That could stretch to 12 months amid unexpected engineering difficulties.

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HS2 firm says new steel tariffs will ‘exacerbate’ cost pressures for UK construction industry

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Doubling tariffs on imported steel will raise cost of the metal when Iran war is already inflating steel and concrete prices

One of HS2’s biggest contractors has warned the government that raising tariffs on foreign steel imports will “exacerbate” cost pressures for the UK construction industry, amid growing concern over the £100bn railway’s rising budget.

Ministers said last week they would double the tariffs on imported steel and slash the amount that can be bought from overseas, in an attempt to save Britain’s struggling steelmakers.

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Boost to British Steel as Turkey places high-speed rail order

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‘Eight-figure agreement’ made to supply new line between Ankara and İzmir – but questions over plant’s future remain

British Steel has secured an order worth tens of millions of pounds to supply rail for a high-speed electric railway in Turkey, amid continuing uncertainty over the long-term future of the government-controlled steelworks in Scunthorpe.

The site will supply 36,000 tonnes of rail to ERG International Group, the company announced, in what it called an “eight-figure agreement”.

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Canada to drop counter-tariffs on some US goods one day after call with Trump

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Mark Carney says change will go into effect on 1 September but tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos will remain

Canada will drop its counter-tariffs on some American goods in the coming days, Mark Carney has said, as the country’s prime minister looks to end a protracted trade war with longtime ally the United States.

From 1 September, the Canadian government will remove some levies on US goods that comply with the North American free-trade pact, a move meant to “match” how the White House treated Canadian goods. Levies on steel, aluminum and autos will remain in place.

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Government to cover pay and pensions at collapsed South Yorkshire steelworks

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Unions receive assurances after state takes control of Liberty Steel plants that collapsed into administration

Workers at the UK’s third-largest steelworks in South Yorkshire have been assured they will receive their pay for August as well as unpaid pension contributions, after a government-appointed special manager took over the collapsed company.

Liberty Steel’s main British business, Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), collapsed into administration on Thursday afternoon after a high court judge ruled that it was insolvent and that its owner, the metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, had no prospects of repaying debts of several hundred million pounds.

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UK metals firms threaten to sue government over tariffs on steel imports from Asia

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Companies send letter to business secretary complaining new rules were imposed with 24 hours’ notice

UK metals companies have threatened to take legal action against the government over tariffs on raw steel imports from Asia which they claim have caused a “tsunami” of problems for the industry.

Earlier this summer, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, reduced the amount of raw steel from Vietnam and South Korea that can be imported tariff-free in a move designed to protect UK raw steel makers, which face competition from cheap imports.

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Trump threatens to keep 25% tariff on UK steel imports over Port Talbot concerns

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Exclusive: Sources say US wants information on when importing of raw materials from abroad at Port Talbot site will stop

Donald Trump is threatening to keep 25% tariffs on some or all of its steel imports from the UK unless it gives specific guarantees over the Indian-owned steelmaking plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, sources have told the Guardian.

An agreement to reduce tariffs on UK car exports to the US and scrap them for the aerospace sector was signed off by the US president and Keir Starmer on Monday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.

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Winter fuel payments U-turn likely to lead to higher taxes or other welfare cuts, says IFS director – UK politics live

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Treasury says move to restore the funding for most pensioners will cost around £1.25bn

The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are both trying to take credit for the winter fuel payments U-turn by the government.

This is from Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader.

Keir Starmer has scrambled to clear up a mess of his own making. I repeatedly challenged him to reverse his callous decision to withdraw winter fuel payments, and every time Starmer arrogantly dismissed my criticisms.

This humiliating U-turn will come as scant comfort to the pensioners forced to choose between heating and eating last winter. The prime minister should now apologise for his terrible judgement.

Finally the chancellor has listened to the Liberal Democrats and the tireless campaigners in realising how disastrous this policy was, but the misery it has caused cannot be overstated.

Countless pensioners were forced to choose between heating and eating all whilst the government buried its head in the sand for months on end, ignoring those who were really suffering.

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Nigel Farage’s pitch for Welsh elections: bring back coalmining

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Reform leader says steel and coal industries can be revived but does not say how beyond ‘scrapping net zero’

Nigel Farage has demanded the reopening of domestic coalmines to provide fuel for new blast furnaces, arguing that Welsh people would happily return to mining if the pay was sufficiently high.

Speaking at an event in Port Talbot, the south Wales town traditionally associated with the steel industry, the Reform UK leader said it was in the “national interest” to have a guaranteed supply of steel, as well as UK-produced fuel for the furnaces, a close echo of Donald Trump’s repeated pledges to return heavy industry to the US.

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Trump tariffs could wipe out European steel sector, senior industry figure says

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ThyssenKrupp executive warns of ‘collateral damage’ to supply chains and urges protective action on energy pricing

Europe’s steel industry faces being wiped out in the face of Donald Trump’s prohibitive 50% tariffs, high energy costs and a mountain of cheaper Chinese steel, one of Germany’s biggest industrial groups has warned.

Ilse Henne, a board member at the steel, engineering and chemicals group ThyssenKrupp, said the industry faced an existential crisis after the US president’s decision last week to double tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50%.

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Yvette Cooper quizzed over immigration and prisons crisis – UK politics live

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Home secretary appears to accept early release proposals will put more pressure on police as she is questioned at select committee

Defence sources believe that Britain will be forced to sign up to a target of lifting defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 at this month’s Nato summit after a campaign by the alliance’s secretary general to keep Donald Trump onboard, Dan Sabbagh reports.

Later today the data (use and access) bill will return to the Commons from the Lords in the third round of “ping pong” between the two houses. It is not unusual for “ping pong” to go on for a round or two, as bills which are almost ready for royal assent shuttle between the elected and unelected chamber while they try to resolve matters of dispute. But, in this case, the Lords are digging in a bit more than usual.

The government has been accused of “supporting thieves”, as it suffered a further heavy defeat at the hands of peers pressing their demand for steps to safeguard the creative industries against artificial intelligence.

The fourth and latest setback for the Labour frontbench over the issue in the House of Lords was inflicted despite pleas by a minister for the upper chamber to end its prolonged stand-off over the data (use and access) bill.

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UK trade secretary to seek exemption from US steel and aluminium tariffs

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Trump announced on Friday night that he planned to double rates on imported steel, piling more pressure on the industry

The UK’s trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will meet his US counterpart next week to thrash out a timeline for exempting the UK from US steel and aluminium tariffs after Donald Trump announced he would double them.

British officials are seeking clarity on the implications of Trump’s announcement on Friday night that he planned to double the tariffs from 25% to 50% from Wedneday 4 June, piling further pressure on global steel trade.

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Trump warms to Nippon Steel, backing ‘partnership’ with US Steel

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Biden had blocked Japanese acquisition, citing national security, with Trump previously agreeing he was ‘totally against’ it

Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind a “partnership” between US Steel and Nippon Steel, months after insisting he was “totally against” a $14.9bn bid by the Japanese firm for its US rival.

While the US president stopped short of an all-out endorsement of the takeover, he announced a deal between the two businesses on social media on Friday.

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Ministers said to be considering bill to wipe out British Steel’s debts

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Chinese owner owed almost £1bn as government weighs up how best to attract buyer for Scunthorpe works

Ministers are reportedly considering legislation to relieve British Steel of debts that have risen to nearly £1bn, as the government considers how best to prepare the Scunthorpe steelworks for sale.

The government took control of the business last month after it said its Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, planned to close the plant within days. The move required emergency legislation that was passed in a historic recall of parliament.

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China issues warning to UK over terms of US trade deal

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UK accused of aligning with US in move that could compel firms to exclude Chinese products from supply chains

China has warned the UK over its new trade deal with the US, accusing Britain of aligning with the US in a move that could compel British companies to exclude Chinese products from their supply chains.

The UK-US trade deal, signed last week, offers Britain limited relief from US tariffs on car and steel exports, but only if it complies with strict American security requirements. These conditions include scrutinising supply chains and ownership structures – a move widely interpreted as targeting Chinese involvement.

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British Steel halts redundancy plans after government rescue

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Union welcomes announcement company is closing consultation on laying off up to 2,700 Scunthorpe workers

British Steel will not continue with a consultation on making up to 2,700 steelworkers at its Scunthorpe plant redundant, after the government took control of the firm earlier this month.

The Chinese company Jingye, which promised a “new chapter” when it bought British Steel in 2020, last month proposed closing Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces, putting the roles under threat and ending Britain’s ability to produce steel from scratch.

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China accuses UK politicians of ‘arrogance’ in British Steel row

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Embassy criticises ‘slandering’ of Chinese government and defends Jingye over furnaces dispute

China has accused UK politicians of “arrogance, ignorance and a twisted mindset” as it defended British Steel’s owner, Jingye, after a barrage of criticism over the narrowly averted shutdown of its blast furnaces.

Beijing’s embassy to the UK accused unspecified British public figures of slandering China’s government and businesses, in comments published on Wednesday on its website.

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Senior Labour figures call for review of Chinese investment in UK infrastructure

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Government’s rapprochement with Beijing may risk national security in wake of British Steel crisis, party members say

Senior Labour figures have urged the government to review Chinese investment in UK infrastructure in the wake of theBritish Steel crisis, warning that a rapprochement with Beijing could risk national security.

Government officials insisted on Monday the country remained open to funding from Chinese companies even after a dramatic weekend during which ministers wrested control of the Scunthorpe steelmaking plant from the Chinese owners, Jingye.

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