New Delhi: The British government formally brought British Steel into public ownership Thursday, ending Chinese conglomerate Jingye Group’s six-year ownership of the loss-making company, and prompting a trade retaliation warning from Beijing.
The ownership of British Steel was formally transferred from Jingye to the State after the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Act received royal assent Wednesday. The House of Commons had approved amendments made by the House of Lords Tuesday, clearing the way for the transfer to take effect Thursday.The nationalisation followed more than a year of government intervention at the Scunthorpe plant in Lincolnshire, which supports approximately 2,700 direct jobs and thousands more in associated businesses and local industries.
The Scunthorpe steelworks is Britain’s last facility capable of producing primary steel from raw materials, which makes its future a central concern for the government’s industrial and national-security policy.“British Steel is part of the fabric of our nation and a cornerstone of Britain’s industrial strength,” outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement Thursday. “Today’s decision secures the future of steelmaking in the UK, protects skilled jobs and safeguards a vital national capability.”Starmer stated that the nationalisation demonstrated the government’s willingness to intervene in the national interest to defend strategic industries and strengthen the UK economy.A new management team will be tasked with stabilising British Steel and transforming it into what the government described as a “commercially sustainable, low-carbon enterprise”.An independent expert will assess the value of the company to determine whether Jingye should receive compensation and, if so, how much.
