Royal Navy on alert to escort shipment in steel crisis

14 comments

1. Article contents:

   *Oliver Gill, Industry Editor | Harry Yorke, Deputy Political Editor | Tim Shipman, April 12 2025, The Sunday Times*

   Ministers could send the Royal Navy to escort a fuel shipment to Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces after parliament voted to seize control of British Steel to ensure its survival.

   A senior source said the government was considering the extraordinary move to ensure the cargo reached the UK without being intercepted or redirected.

   The location and details of the cargo have not been confirmed but it is said to be coking coal — vital to keeping the furnaces running.

   Without securing fresh supplies, the furnaces at the steelworks, owned by the Chinese firm Jingye, would burn out and be almost impossible to turn back on. This would kill the UK’s last domestic source of “virgin” steel, predominantly used to build rail tracks but also vital for Britain’s construction and automotive industries.

   The Ministry of Defence said no decision had been taken on the navy’s involvement and it is unclear whether ministers have made a formal request.

   MPs and peers were recalled to parliament to push through emergency legislation to seize control of British Steel. It was the first Saturday sitting since the Afghanistan crisis in 2021.

   The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill cleared both houses in several hours. The laws empower Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, to direct the board and the staff of British Steel, and to enter the company’s premises “using force if necessary”.

   It was brought forward as Labour seeks to shore up its support in its industrial heartlands in the face of pressure from Reform UK, which has backed full nationalisation. The Conservatives, who allowed the steelworks to be privatised under Margaret Thatcher and are broadly against state ownership, also backed the move.

   Negotiations to keep British Steel alive started under the last Conservative government but have intensified, with Reynolds locked in talks last week with Jingye on proposals for the government to pay for shipments of raw materials. It dawned on Reynolds on Thursday that the Chinese company was never going to accept the offer.

   He told parliament that Jingye had demanded “hundreds of millions of pounds” on top of the government’s deal, but without any conditions to stop the company transferring funds to China, or to ensure the blast furnaces were “maintained and in good working order”.

   He said it had also become clear that Jingye had no intention of purchasing sufficient raw materials to keep the furnaces running and intended to cancel orders.

   He added that the company would have “irrevocably and unilaterally closed down” Scunthorpe without government intervention.

   Writing for The Sunday Times, he said that without taking the powers “thousands of jobs would have been lost, as well as a crucial sovereign capability”. He added: “This government refused to be extorted by a company that repeatedly refused to act rationally.”

   Saturday brought chaotic scenes in Lincolnshire as steelworkers gathered to rally against a closure. Shortly after 8am a delegation of “six to eight” Jingye executives managed to gain access, despite their security passes being revoked.

   The Chinese officials then barricaded themselves in a room, sparking mayhem. “There was a lot of screaming and shouting,” said one company source. As workers called Humberside police to remove the Chinese delegation, the group “beat a hasty retreat” and left the site.

   Humberside police confirmed they had been asked to attend “following a suspected breach of the peace”. The force added: “Upon attending, conducting checks and speaking to individuals in the area, there were no concerns raised and no arrests were made.”

   Staff this weekend remain on high alert, however, as they await crucial deliveries of raw materials such as coking coal and iron ore.

   A shipment of coking coal was in port at Immingham, on the Humber Estuary, with no sign of it being unloaded. Sources claimed that Jingye attempted to sell the Immingham shipment to an unnamed Chinese company, starving the Scunthorpe works of crucial fuel. However, the government moved to stop this, with police said to have secured the shipment.

   In parliament, Reynolds presented the plan to take control of the site as an attempt to buy time rather than an immediate move to renationalise British steel. But in response to questions he noted that nationalisation may be “the likely option” in the long term.

   He faced calls from the Greens, the Liberal Democrats and Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform, to nationalise immediately. Tice, the MP for Boston & Skegness, urged Reynolds “to go further, to be bold, be courageous, show your cojones, show some mettle”.

   There was agreement that a Chinese firm should not have been allowed to buy the company. Liam Byrne, the Labour chair of the business and trade committee, said: “At the heart of this debate is actually a very simple question: can we entrust a critical national asset to a company that we do not trust? I say no, we cannot, we must not and we dare not.”

   Jingye did not respond to a request for comment.

2. Largely thanks to Trump or at least the timing is. But it does seem that Jingye bought the site to shut it down and to make the UK dependant on Chinese steel.

   I’m no expert on the matter but apparently if the blast furnaces run out of fuel then it can irretrievably damage them. Causing them to never be started again. With the company seemingly determined to shut the plant down.

   What I don’t understand is where on Earth the coal is coming from for it to require the RN to escort the cargo ship. The Chinese Navy has a very minimal presence West of Suez. The only place it would matter was if the coal was coming from China and they could stop the shipment anyway, unless the ship had already left particularly if the ship was Chinese owned.

3. This is getting wild:

   > The laws empower Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, to direct the board and the staff of British Steel, and to **enter the company’s premises “using force if necessary”**.

   Something positive:

   > The Conservatives, who allowed the steelworks to be privatised under Margaret Thatcher and are broadly against state ownership, **also backed the move**.

   I have feeling this is decision by the CPP, not the company:

   > **proposals for the government to pay for shipments of raw materials**. It dawned on Reynolds on Thursday that the Chinese **company was never going to accept the offer**.

   Or maybe just greed:

   > Jingye had demanded “hundreds of millions of pounds” on top of the government’s deal, but without any conditions to stop the company transferring funds to China, or to ensure the blast furnaces were “maintained and in good working order”
   > … had no intention of purchasing sufficient raw materials to keep the furnaces running and intended to cancel orders

   > Shortly after 8am a delegation of “six to eight” Jingye executives managed to gain access, despite their security passes being revoked.

   For some reason, this part doesn’t surpris me:

   > The Chinese officials then barricaded themselves in a room, sparking mayhem.

   Somewhat like out of a Hollywood film where the hero overcomes the villain:

   > A shipment of coking coal was in port at Immingham, on the Humber Estuary, with no sign of it being unloaded. Sources claimed that Jingye attempted to sell the Immingham shipment to an unnamed Chinese company, starving the Scunthorpe works of crucial fuel. However, the government moved to stop this, with police said to have secured the shipment.

4. Should never have closed the coal mines if we’re having to import that from abroad. But hey, the hate for the working man wanting to earn a decent living and green policies were and are more important policies.

5. How the fuck was something this important allowed to come to this.

6. Now we have proven that companies and assets can be seized with a government bill, let’s turn our attention to Thames water and other national assets of great importance which are being run into the ground

7. Funny.. I’ve been reliably informed by Reddit for the past few years that domestic coking coal production was totally unnecessary, backward looking, and would result in instant planet destruction..

   Or maybe it just gives all the power to the Indian and Chinese steel producers that the Tories sold us out to ..?

8. This is wild indeed. We are sat on top of millions of tons of the stuff! The governments have covenants on land to mine the stuff.. but no, we do this instead?

9. Everyone seems shocked by this but Europe has been out sourcing strategic resources to geopolitical adversaries for a long time. Look at Germany and Russia with Gas.

   Also look at multiple UK governments failure to manage and replace critical infrastructure, eg power plants and gas reserves.

   Always saving a quick buck but costing more in the future, false economy.

10. >The Ministry of Defence said no decision had been taken on the navy’s involvement and it is unclear whether ministers have made a formal request.

    So this is just someone making up a hypothetical scenario for clicks then?

11. Time to open the mines back up and get some British coal to support British steel.

12. China is NOT our friend. They are not ANYBODY’S friend.

13. Can I just point out that there is no way this nationalisation would have been possible if it weren’t for Brexit.

14. and yet they allowed the blast furnaces at Port Talbot to shut down.
    The Welsh government were pathetic

Comments are closed.