Boost to British Steel as Turkey places high-speed rail order

British Steel said the contract had created new jobs at Scunthorpe and restarted round-the-clock rail manufacturing for the first time in over a decade. Photograph: Joel Goodman/The Guardian

British Steel has secured an order worth tens of millions of pounds to supply rail for a high-speed electric railway in Turkey, amid continuing uncertainty over the long-term future of the government-controlled steelworks in Scunthorpe.

The site will supply 36,000 tonnes of rail to ERG International Group, the company announced, in what it called an “eight-figure agreement”.