Steelmakers’ Union report calls for action to secure future
The report presents a vision for a competitive British steel industry.
Steelmakers’ union, Community, has launched a report calling for urgent action from the UK Government to secure a long-term future for the country’s steel industry.
Steel Reforged, as the report is titled, sets out a series of recommendations to safeguard the industry’s future, including:
- The introduction of a direct reduced iron (DRI) facility to maintain the UK’s primary steelmaking capability, alongside investment to create a modern steel plate mill
- Government action to mandate or incentivise the use of UK-made steel for energy, defence and related infrastructure projects
- A robust UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to be brought in one year earlier than planned in 2026 to protect the country against a flood of dirty steel imports
- Government action to bring down industrial electricity prices for steelmakers in the UK, in line with the lower costs paid by competitors in France and Germany.
Community Assistant General Secretary Alasdair McDiarmid says, ‘We stand at a crucial moment for steelmaking in this country. We must ask ourselves the fundamental question of whether we want to be a country that produces or a country that imports.’
Backing the call for more UK steel, Stephen Kinnock, MP for Aberafan Maesteg – home of the Port Talbot steelworks – notes that ‘Higher defence spending, new infrastructure projects and a growing offshore wind industry are each driving new demand for steel which we simply must seek to meet here in the UK – by creating a competitive policy environment and investing in the technologies of the future, such as a plate mill and a DRI facility.’
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