British glass industry warns it is under threat after steel crisis ...Middle East

Ministers must buy British-made goods over using Chinese imports to prop up the ailing heavy industries sector, business leaders have warned.

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.

It comes as the Japanese owner of a specialist glass manufacturer, Nippon Electric Glass, which provides material for wind turbines and electric vehicles, is threatening to close its Wigan-based site unless it is able to find a suitable buyer, placing 250 jobs at risk.

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.

“We have a situation where the UK’s last domestic producer of fibre in Wigan is at risk of closure because its Japanese owner no longer sees it as viable,” Mr Dalton said.

“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.”

Mr Dalton said the glass manufacturing sector is facing “the worst situation I have witnessed in 45 years in the industry”.

“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.

He added: “We are seeking talks with (Business Secretary) Jonathan Reynolds and (Chancellor) Rachel Reeves but we are in a queue. But we have already seen five furnaces out of 26 close down and another eight lines of production out of 30 down.”

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.

Despite growing calls for the Government to divest from China, Reynolds said on Tuesday he would entertain offers from other Chinese firms interested in becoming involved with British Steel.

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.”

His comments were in contrast to those he made on Sunday, when he said: “I wouldn’t personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector.”

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.

Since then, there have been fears that the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe could be left to cool if Jingye did not order enough supplies to keep them running.

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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The Government passed emergency powers in Parliament on Saturday to keep the furnaces running, with Keir Starmer saying it was essential for the economy and national security.Reynolds added that there could be a “different employment footprint” at the steelworks in its long-term future.

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.

“That might be new technology, new facilities, that might have a different employment footprint. The staff here absolutely know that, they know they need a long-term future.

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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