British Steel plans to shut furnaces putting up to 2,000 jobs at risk

More than 2,000 jobs are at risk as British Steel announces its plans to close down its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe. 

The business, owned by China’s Jingye Group, wants to replace them with two electric arc furnaces – one at Scunthorpe and one at Teesside. 

The construction is expected to take between two and three years. 

British Steel said it aimed to transform the firm into a “green and sustainable company” and had to look at different scenarios to help it do this. 

The shift could lead to the loss of 1,500 to 2,000 jobs, mostly at Scunthorpe, according to unions. 

Sources at the Department for Business say the proposals are part of a plan, involving a package of taxpayer support of up to £500m for British Steel, which mirrors a package agreed for rival Tata.

Government sources said that the blast furnace plants were not economic – they are losing £1m a day, they say – were not “green” and were therefore unsustainable on financial and environmental grounds.