Raw materials delivered to British Steel through Immingham

(Posted on 15/04/25)

Following the UK government’s passing of an emergency law to take control of British Steel, vital raw materials are now arriving at the company’s headquarters in Scunthorpe. The law was passed following accusations that its Chinese owner was planning to switch the Scunthorpe furnaces off.

Scunthorpe is the last plant in the UK producing virgin steel. Without this, the UK will be reliant on foreign imports and with Donald Trump's tariffs putting a 24% tax on steel imports to the US, this will only push costs up further.

British Steel was bought by Chinese multi-industrial company Jingye Group in March 2020.

In a statement on its website on 15 April, the company said, “This is a monumental time for our people and our business. On Saturday, a special law was passed to take us under the control of the UK Government. Today, we are pleased to confirm that vital raw materials are being unloaded at our port facility, Immingham Bulk Terminal. They will then be transported to our headquarters in Scunthorpe to support our iron and steelmaking operations. Other raw materials are also on their way. While this remains a challenging period for British Steel colleagues, we now have great hope. And above all, we’d like to recognise the incredible efforts of our employees – the finest steelmakers in the world.”

The supplies are enough to keep the furnaces running for weeks, the UK Department for Business and Trade said, adding that they have been paid for out of its existing budget.

The BBC has reported that UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said steel is a "sensitive sector" after key raw materials needed to keep the company's blast furnaces running finally reached its Scunthorpe plant.

The UK government has so far stopped short of taking British Steel back into full public ownership but has not ruled out nationalisation, while also looking for potential private investors to fund operations.

The BBC went on to quote Reynolds saying he was "keen to stress the action we've taken here was to step in, because it was one specific company that I thought wasn't acting in the UK's national interest".