A government-backed shift to electric arc furnaces at British Steel in Scunthorpe has been endorsed by Business Secretary Peter Kyle, raising immediate concerns over the future of thousands of jobs tied to the UK’s traditional blast furnaces. The move is part of a plan to secure the plant’s future and decarbonise the industry.
Kyle, who is preparing a new steel strategy for December, confirmed he supports the transition to the cleaner technology. However, this endorsement is ringing alarm bells for the workforce. Electric arc furnaces require fewer personnel, and the memory of Tata Steel’s switch in Port Talbot, which resulted in 2,500 job losses, is still fresh.
The Scunthorpe plant, currently under state control, was saved from a potential permanent closure by its Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, back in April. The government’s intervention protected 2,700 jobs at the time, but this new strategy introduces fresh uncertainty for those employed in traditional steelmaking roles.
Unions, such as Community, are reacting with caution. Assistant General Secretary Alasdair McDiarmid welcomed the language of a “just transition” but firmly stated that it is critical to “maintain primary steelmaking capacity here in the UK.” This highlights the central conflict: the move to EAFs inherently threatens the UK’s ability to make virgin steel from iron ore.
The government is also facing financial pressure. Of the £2.5bn pledged to the steel industry, Kyle confirmed “hundreds of millions” have already been spent just to keep British Steel and Liberty Steel operational. This financial drain, combined with a “highly complex global environment” of tariffs and oversupply, puts immense pressure on the forthcoming strategy to deliver a solution that is both green and economically viable.