VK demands control of British Steel after Chinese owners threatened to close blast furnaces

The United Kingdom has claimed control with emergency legislation on Saturday about the last British factory that can produce completely independent steel. Press agencies report this on Saturday. The Chinese owner Jingye Group wanted to close the lossy blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, with which the 2,700 employees threatened to end up on the street.

According to the Chinese owners, the factory runs 700,000 pounds (more than 800,000 euros) loss per day. The company therefore decided to cancel orders for materials such as iron to keep the blast furnaces turning. With that, the ovens might stop within a few days, probably for good, because they are difficult to restart once they have cooled. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was therefore from all political sides under great pressure to intervene quickly.

The state of affairs is exceptional. British MPs had to break down their Easter holidays on Saturday for a meeting of the higher and lower house. Since the Second World War, a parliament meeting on a Saturday has only occurred five times before.

Nationalization probably

Jonathan Reynolds, the British Minister of Trade, is given the authority to manage the board and the employees by the adopted law. For the time being, the company remains in the possession of Jingye, but in the British parliament, vote is widely to nationalize British Steel.

« All options to guarantee the future of industry are on the table, » said Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday according to the BBC. Minister Jonathan Reynolds called Nationalization the most likely next step, because private investors are not in line to take over the loss -making factory. There is broad political support for that.

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