Overview

• The UK government is considering nationalisation as a potential solution to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, with talks reportedly progressing but no agreement reached yet.
• Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces, the last in the UK capable of producing virgin steel, face imminent closure due to financial losses and a lack of raw materials.
• Jingye, British Steel’s Chinese owner, rejected a £500 million government offer and is demanding closer to £1 billion for modernisation efforts.
• The closure would result in the loss of 2,700 jobs and leave the UK without the capacity to produce virgin steel, raising concerns over national security and industrial independence.
• Officials, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, have emphasized that all options remain on the table, with nationalisation seen as a last resort while a commercial resolution is still being pursued.