The UK government has taken control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant in a bid to save the country’s last major steelmaking site.
The U.K. government has effectively taken control of Britain’s last remaining factory that produces steel from scratch, seizing it from its Chinese owners following an emergency rescue approved by lawmakers.
British Steel’s Chinese parent company, Jingye Group, had warned that the Scunthorpe plant was losing £700,000 a day due to tough market conditions and rising environmental costs.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened lawmakers for a rare emergency session — only the sixth since World War II — to pass legislation aimed at preventing Jingye from shutting down the plant’s two blast furnaces, which are crucial to steel production.
The bill, which became law after receiving royal assent from King Charles III, grants Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds the authority to direct the company’s board and workforce, guarantee wages for its 3,000 employees, and secure raw materials to keep the blast furnaces operating.
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