In the wake of the decision to step in to save British Steel, industry heads have urged ministers to place restrictions on Chinese imports and use British-made products in order to stave off the closure of key manufacturing sites.
Dave Dalton, chief executive of British Glass, told The i Paper that if the Government chose to source its glass fibre from the UK to meet its wind turbine targets, the firm would be kept at near capacity until 2050.
“But at the same time the UK is importing similar material for wind turbines from China. If the Government were to impose restrictions on imports from China and source UK-manufactured fibre for wind turbines and electric vehicles, then the company might become more attractive to investors.”
“We will have the lowest output of glass for nearly 50 or 60 years,” he said, adding that production had “fallen off a cliff edge” in the past year.
Coal and coke mounds at the British Steel bulk terminal site at Immingham Docks yesterday (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty)
Heavy industries, such as glass, paper, chemicals, and cement, have come under severe pressure due to the sky-high price of energy and are now calling on ministers to act to prevent similar British Steel rescue acts from being necessary in the future.
Speaking at Immingham where the raw materials were docked to keep the Scunthorpe furnaces burning, Reynolds said the Government’s decision to step in was because of “one specific company.”
In March, British Steel’s Chinese owner, Jingye, announced it would close the remaining furnaces at Scunthorpe, which would lead to the loss of 2,700 jobs. It came months after the closure of Tata Steel’s plant in Port Talbot, South Wales, with thousands of workers being made redundant.
It could have led to the end of virgin steelmaking in the UK, with Scunthorpe responsible for producing steel for construction and the vast majority of the country’s railway tracks.
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He said: “What we need for the long-term future of British Steel is that private sector partner to work with us as a Government on a transformation programme.
Industry minister Sarah Jones said: “Our relationship with China is a pragmatic one. It’s the second largest economy in the world, the fourth largest trading partner that we have and the trade with China supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in this country.
“We want to make sure we’ve got a vibrant industry sector here in the UK and we want to make sure all of the sectors that we’re looking at through our industrial strategy can thrive.”
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