Business Secretary Peter Kyle’s backing for electric arc furnaces (EAFs) at British Steel “raise[s] doubts about the fate of blast furnaces that employ thousands of people,” the original report states. The minister’s push for a green transition has created a direct threat to the UK’s traditional steelmaking workforce.
Kyle, who is preparing a new steel strategy, confirmed his support for the “cleaner electric arc technology” at the state-controlled Scunthorpe plant. The move is intended to secure the site’s future, which was at risk of permanent closure by its Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, just months ago.
However, this security comes at the price of the old technology. EAFs melt scrap steel, making the carbon-intensive blast furnaces—and their large workforce—obsolete. Steelworkers are “cautious,” well aware that a similar move at Tata Steel in Port Talbot led to 2,500 redundancies.
The Community union has responded by welcoming the commitment to a “just transition” but adding a major condition: the UK must “maintain primary steelmaking capacity.” This is a direct challenge to the plan, as that capacity is rooted in the very blast furnaces the EAFs would replace.
The government is now trying to find a high-tech, low-carbon way to produce primary steel using hydrogen, but its financial viability is in doubt. This conflict between green technology and the existing workforce will be the central battleground of the new steel strategy.
