Labour Blamed for End of Steelmaking in UK as Blast Furnaces to Close

Jingye, the Chinese company which owns British Steel, is set to close its Scunthorpe steelworks blast furnaces with 2,000-2,700 jobs up for the chop. British Steel is the UK’s second largest steelmaker and blamed environmental costs among others:

“The blast furnaces and steelmaking operations are no longer financially sustainable due to highly challenging market conditions, the imposition of tariffs and higher environmental costs relating to the production of high-carbon steel… The company had sought support from the UK government for a major capital investment in two new electric arc furnaces.