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UK nationalizes Chinese-owned British
Steel to protect nation's steelmaking capacity
[July 17, 2026]
By DANICA KIRKA
LONDON (AP)
— The U.K. government has nationalized British Steel to protect the
nation’s steelmaking capacity after the company’s Chinese owners moved
to shut the plant’s blast furnaces.
The Department for Business and Trade announced the move on Thursday,
saying it would save thousands of jobs and protect the U.K.’s national
interest by ensuring a supply of domestically produced steel for major
construction projects and the defense industry. |
Britain's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle, left,
and Swiss Federal President Guy Parmelin talk prior to a press briefing,
held as part of a bilateral meeting, at the Hotel Bellevue Palace in
Bern, Switzerland, Monday, July 13, 2026. Parmelin and Kyle announced
the conclusion of negotiations on a modernised free trade agreement
between Switzerland and the United Kingdom. (Anthony Anex/Keystone via
AP) |
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“British Steel now belongs to the British people, and our focus
is on the future: stabilizing the business, backing the
communities that rely on it and building a sustainable,
competitive and decarbonized steel sector for the years ahead,”
Business Secretary Peter Kyle said in a statement.
An independent evaluation will be carried out to determine
whether any compensation will be paid to the firm’s former
owner, China’s Jingye Group.
The U.K. government took operational control of British Steel
last year after Jingye said that it was considering closing the
blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant in northern England. The
blast furnaces are the last in the U.K. that make “virgin steel”
from raw materials.
British Steel and its forebears have been making steel at
Scunthorpe for more than 130 years, building on the U.K.’s
development of improved steelmaking technology during the
Industrial Revolution. The plant currently employs about 2,700
people.
Jingye bought British Steel in 2020 and says it has invested
more than 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) to keep the plant
running in the face of “ongoing production instability.”
On Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce expressed firm
opposition and “strong dissatisfaction” with the U.K.
government's move.
“It has seriously hurt Jingye’s legitimate rights and interests,
and dealt a serious blow to the confidence of Chinese
enterprises investing in the U.K.,” the ministry said in a
statement.
The ministry added that it supports Chinese enterprises in
“using legal means to defend their rights,” adding that China
will closely monitor the developments and will “take resolute
measures to firmly safeguard the interests of Chinese
enterprises.”
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