U.K. Government Nationalizes British Steel After Chinese Owner Moves to Close Blast Furnaces

The U.K. government nationalized British Steel on Thursday after the company’s Chinese owners moved to shut the plant’s blast furnaces, The Independent reported. The Department for Business and Trade said the action would save thousands of jobs and protect the national interest by securing a domestic supply of steel for major construction projects and the defense industry.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said in a statement that British Steel now belongs to the British people. “Our focus is on the future: stabilizing the business, backing the communities that rely on it and building a sustainable, competitive and decarbonized steel sector for the years ahead,” he said.

An independent evaluation will determine whether any compensation is paid to the former owner, China’s Jingye Group.

The government took operational control of the company last year after Jingye considered closing the blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in northern England. Those furnaces are the last in the U.K. that produce virgin steel from raw materials.

British Steel and its predecessors have operated at Scunthorpe for more than 130 years. The plant currently employs about 2,700 people. Jingye bought the company in 2020 and says it has invested more than 1.2 billion pounds to keep operations running.