Call for UK state to step in after Gupta-owned Dalzell works in Scotland unable to produce metal for three new warships
A shipbuilder for the Royal Navy faces an uncertain wait for the steel to build three warships because of a shortage of cash at the Scottish steel mill that has won the contract.
Liberty Steel Dalzell in Scotland has been unable to start production in earnest because there is “no cashflow to buy slab”, despite an order to supply 34,000 tonnes of metal plates to build fleet solid support (FSS) ships for the navy, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.
Sir David Murray, a Scottish metals magnate, said the UK government should step in, as it has done with other steelworks, to pressure Liberty Steel to pass over control of the plant. He has previously told the government he would be willing to step in and run the business.
The cash shortage at Liberty is a sign of the continued financial troubles facing companies owned by the under-pressure metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta. Gupta has lost of control of several parts of his GFG Alliance empire since the 2021 collapse of his key lender, Greensill Capital.
