UK, British Steel Owner Held Talks to Avert Plant Closures, FT Says
The sun rises behind chimneys at the British Steel Ltd. plant in Scunthorpe, UK.
Photographer: Dominic Lipinski/BloombergUK business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has held talks with British Steel’s Chinese owner in a bid to avoid plant closures, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified government and industry sources.
Reynolds met Li Huiming, chief executive of Jingye Group, last week to try and avert the closure of British Steel’s last two blast furnaces in the UK at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, according to the report. The Chinese company has also changed its mind on building new furnaces in the nation that use cleaner energy and there hasn’t been any breakthrough in the talks, despite an option of the UK government subsidizing the two loss-making blast furnaces, the newspaper added.