Government to hold crisis summit on UK’s troubled steel industry following SSI Redcar closure
Government ministers are holding a crisis summit on the UK's troubled steel industry today, in the wake of high-profile mill closures that have led to thousands of job losses.
Ministers, along with steel companies, unions and trade bodies, are meeting in Rotherham to discuss how the industry can counter overcapacity, cheap imports from China and the 30 per cent drop in steel prices caused by slowed demand.
“There is no magic bullet and we can’t change the price of steel, but we can forensically work through all of the challenges we know the industry is facing to see what solutions there might be,” said business secretary Sajid Javid.
The Redcar steelworks in Teesside, owned by Thailand's Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK (SSI), closed earlier this month to a national outcry, resulting in around 1,700 lay-offs.
Tata Steel has also cut jobs at its operations in Rotherham this year.