The National Dilemma of the UK Steel Industry

Steel is not just another industry we can let go to the wall.  It must be saved, by the state if needed.

It is fundamental to the manufacturing industry in the UK and the resurgent automotive sector.  We take this raw material and through our country’s unique pedigree of Engineering skills, we add value to ultimately generate wealth for the nation.  Whilst there are many challenges facing the sector such as falling demand, increases in energy prices and cheaper foreign imports, we need to ensure its continuity.  We can not solely rely on the service sector such as banking to ensure the UK remains economically sound.  Recent history should teach us that.

Ironically, in the same week that Tata has announced the sale, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that for 2015, the UK current account deficit is the highest on record.  This basically means the UK import significantly more than it exports – £96.2bn or 5.2% of annual GDP last year.

This post is not political in its motivation.  I felt compelled to write this, as I, like many people in industrial roles see the importance of manufacturing to a national economy.  Without an ability to generate raw materials to support the manufacturing sector, our ability to generate wealth as a nation will be increasingly dependent on global economics and geo-political influences.  The import of cheap steel will not last forever.

For me it is about time the Government steps up to the challenge, puts some real action behind the agenda for manufacturing in the UK and ensures the future of the steel industry in the UK.

Addendum – April 2024

In revising this article, the situaiton to the british steel industry and our dependence on foreign imports does not seem to have improved. This is a critical resource for our national security and we beleive it is time that the UK Government starts to recognise it as such!

• 2024: British Steel Scunthorpe: Plans for electric arc furnace submitted
• 2024: Tata Steel: Port Talbot coke ovens closing amid stability fear
• 2023: British Steel set to cut up to 2,000 jobs in furnace closure plan
• 2021: Old Redcar steel works bunker destroyed in controlled explosion
• 2019: Corby: ‘Devastating’ steel works closure remembered 40 years on
• 2016: Redcar steelworks closure: One year on

The original article was created on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/national-dilemma-uk-steel-industry-nicholas-leeder/

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