LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Tuesday it could keep the country’s last steel blast furnaces burning for at least the next few weeks after securing a delivery of fuel – the latest step in a last-gasp government scramble to save domestic virgin steel production.
The government had been racing to secure enough coking coal and iron ore to keep the loss-making furnaces running after passing emergency laws on Saturday to take operational control of the site in northeastern England from Chinese owners Jingye Group.
The furnaces need to be constantly fuelled, cannot easily be restarted if closed down, and were losing 700,000 pounds ($922,950.00) per day.
Without them Britain would be reliant on imports for its rail, construction and automotive industries at a time of trade wars and geopolitical instability.
Business minister Jonathan Reynolds said British industries at the heart of the government’s plans to revive the nation’s ageing infrastructure relied on domestic steel.
Reynolds will travel to the east coast port of Immingham to watch the fuel be loaded for transit after the government said it has settled payment for the shipment, which originally arrived from the United States and had been stored at the docks.
A separate ship from Australia carrying coking coal and iron ore was also bound for Britain after the resolution of a legal dispute and payment from the government.
($1 = 0.7584 pounds)
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Nia Williams)
