Scunthorpe’s leading union figure has described the “devastating” moment steel workers were told 260 jobs are at risk, and warned of the dangers for the UK of closing the coke ovens.
Paul McBean chairs the multi-union committee at British Steel and was on site from 5.30am as briefings began.
He believes government intervention is vital to keep a strategic industry operational and, crucially, self-sufficient - pointing to conflict potential to kill off production and prohibit vital manufacturing in the UK.
Read more: 260 jobs set to go at British Steel as coke ovens closure proposed
“It is devastating news, it is attacking our processes,” Mr McBean said. “If we close the coke ovens we are reliant on importing from different countries around the world, who at any moment could stop, which would stop our production.
“The government should step up and give us a strategy, lay out what they want from a steel industry. If we got into a conflict with another country, if all of a sudden they cut off supply, we cannot make steel, and we cannot make tanks, planes, ships or bullets. Everything takes steel and we cannot produce it without coke.”
It comes with the global geo-political situation front of mind as a year of Russian aggression against Ukraine is marked this week. There are also environmental concerns when it comes to offshoring emissions generated from a heavy industry process.
“We don’t want a lump sum, we want help with energy prices and carbon prices, a long term strategy for steel investment in this country. We’ve had mills reduced and numbers reduced, but to take out one of the processes of steelmaking leaves us reliant on supplies from other countries. The carbon footprint may go down in this country, but it will go up elsewhere.
But it is the 260 colleagues he is most concerned about, with 330 staff involved in rolling sessions from well before dawn. Consultations start tomorrow.
“They had picked up on rumours, but to be told was devastating,” Mr McBean said. “The rest of the workforce are doing astronomical hours in overtime so we think these jobs could go round the works, which we’ll get into.
“We will use everything in our armoury to make sure that does happen. First we want to see justification for the closure of the coke ovens, once we get that, then the people are our main concern, and we go from there.”
Groups of 20 to 30 were addressed to ensure production continued. Work that could be lost sees coal exposed to high temperatures in a sealed environment to turn to coke, before being added to iron ore in the blast furnaces - with two of the four on site operational - to make iron ahead of the world-leading steel producing work across the integrated site.
The "irreversible" nature of the proposal has been flagged by Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Materials Processing Institute. He sits at the helm of the UK’s national innovation centre for the sector and warned of wider implications. He said: "The closure of the Scunthorpe coking ovens is irreversible and will impact the national economy, as it produces such products as rails, beams and wire rod that are vital in supporting UK infrastructure and manufacturing.
"This announcement underlines the urgent need for investment in new green steel technology, a process already well advanced in countries across Europe, the United States, and Canada. The UK is in real danger of being left behind in the race to establish a modern, competitive low-emission steel sector as high energy costs are making our own steel industry unsustainable, which makes it less attractive to invest in green steel.
"If the UK fails to act quickly and decisively, then it risks being the only modern, industrial economy without a steel sector and totally reliant on imports.
"Closing these coking ovens is a permanent act. Once allowed to cool down, they cannot be restarted, and must instead be rebuilt. They primarily feed the blast furnaces, but also provide gases and fuel for downstream operations, such as rolling mills - meaning this decision will have widespread implications for British Steel and beyond.
"Although I expect British Steel will import coke to keep its operations running, this closure may well be the thin end of the wedge, opening the door to much greater imports of steel in the future."
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