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Thousands of steelworkers are set to be laid off just before Christmas after British Steel brought forward plans to close its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.
In a move unions say will be devastating for the local community, at least 2,500 jobs are set to be put at risk by the early closure.
British Steel has previously announced it would be building an electric arc furnace (EAF) as part of its decarbonisation plans, replacing the carbon-intensive blast furnaces at the Scunthorpe site.
While blast furnaces need a large team to run, EAF requires far fewer staff, meaning any change will result in heavy layoffs.
The company had previously proposed to keep its current operations up and running until the transition had been made to electric arc steelmaking.
But a source told The Independent the plant will stop importing coke and coal in October, meaning the blast furnaces will be turned off permanently just before Christmas.
“That means at least 2,500 jobs lost before the end of the year,” the source added. British Steel said no decision has been made and talks with the government are ongoing.
The GMB union, which represents steelworkers at the site, said the early closure would be “devastating for the community and workforce”.
National officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said: “Unions have been assured throughout the process that the blast furnace operations would continue throughout the construction of an electric arc furnace.
“There has been no consultation over an early closure.
“British Steel and the government must engage with workers immediately to safeguard jobs and livelihoods.”
Shadow business minister Kevin Hollinrake told The Independent: “This is classic ‘do as I say not as I do’ socialism in practice.
“In opposition Labour were promising billions for steel making in the UK and now have totally betrayed Scunthorpe and the UK steel industry. This has Ed Milliband and Rachel Reeves written all over it – one with a bonkers, virtue-signalling approach to trying to save the planet by switching to foreign imports, the other trying to save money so she can give it straight to her union paymasters.”
The plant’s Chinese owners are believed to be in negotiations with the government over the closure, with the potential for British Steel to import 3 million tonnes of steel from the country, allowing its mills to keep operating.
One critic of the plans said: “The government are genuinely entertaining the possibility of allowing British Steel to close the vast majority of the business, lose at least 2,500 jobs and let them import steel from China … and give them more than £600m to ‘invest’ ... which might see an electric arc furnace built in five years … if they’re lucky.”
The shock early closures come after the closure of two separate blast furnaces at Britain’s biggest steelworks, Port Talbot in south Wales. Its owner Tata Steel said it would cut 2,800 jobs at the plant as Britain becomes increasingly reliant on foreign steel imports from countries including India and China.
The replacement electric arc furnaces that are to come online in Scunthorpe and at Port Talbot take years to develop, with the Port Talbot EAF not expected to come online until 2027 at the earliest.
British Steel’s Scunthorpe EAF was approved in April, with an application document suggesting the firm believes it could be operational by December 2025.
A British Steel spokesperson said: “Our imports of raw material are continuing but have reduced in light of ongoing production issues. We’re working to restore production levels from our ageing blast furnaces.
“We’re discussing our decarbonisation plans with the government and no final decision has been made.”
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “We’re working in partnership with trade unions and businesses, including British Steel, to secure a green steel transition that’s right for the workforce and safeguards the future of the steel industry in Britain.
“Decarbonisation does not mean deindustrialisation, which is why we’ve committed to £2.5bn of investment to rebuild the UK steel industry and support communities for generations to come.”
