British Steel Once Again In Trouble
As this is written, British Steel is once again on the verge of administration, which could happen in a few hours time. In order to survive they have asked the Government for 30m pounds in order to deal with emission charges and Brexit related issues.
Selling Less Steel
It seems Europe is buying less steel from the UK, and choosing USA and China suppliers instead. At this time the Conservative government has not agreed to bail them out, so it is a waiting game to see what happens.
This is not the first time British Steel has been bailed out. Only 2 weeks ago, the government provided a 120 million pound loan, so to asking for another 30 million so soon after, is worrying for the thousands who work there. It is owned by Greybull Capital and was bought from Tata Steel for a single pound back in 2016 with plants in Scunthorpe and Teesside.
Goverment Reaction
The Labour political party have called for British Steel to be put back into public ownership and with the recent loan, there are some suggesting it is already in public ownership.
So the business minister Andrew Stephenson nade a comment that No Stone Will Be Left Unturned, yet we have not yet heard of any loan agreement. It was mentioned today though, that sufficient funding was in place to ensure all workers will be paid in full for this month of May 2019. A small relief at a worrying time.
Interviews with workers on TV, showed those prepared to stay and work there as long as they will get paid, and some stating how they loved working there.
Even if a loan is granted it is hard to understand how British Steel can compete with China and USA and a newsreader challenged them on their business size and how they did not have the economies of scale their larger competitors have. Could his also be an indication of Europe’s intention of trading once we leave the European Union, it is not as though there are any potential trading prospects in the near future, so will the government, just keep paying out?
In a few days we will all know..