I wrote in Vehicles to Vaccines about the passage of the steel industry since 1951 and how successive governments had attempted to make it more competitive. With the announcement of the closure of two blast furnaces at Port Talbot, I wanted to look again at this historically vital industry.
I looked up some numbers. UK steel production in 2021 amounted to 7.2 million tons. This compares with 24 million in 1960.
The UK imports ore from China, Brazil and Australia for whilst there is still ore in the UK it is of lower quality. In addition to imports of ore, steel is imported from Belgium, Germany and Spain.
Steel is one of the corner stones of manufacturing and security of supply is vital. We are already a mixed economy and are in no sense self supporting, yet to cease production of virgin steel would seem to send a message that we have shut up shop.
The argument that existing blast furnaces are not green is correct and there is benefit both in recycling scrap and using electric arc technology, but this cannot be the whole story. Germany is exploring hydrogen in steel making; surely we should do the same.
Ultimately can the government tell us what is green about smelting ore in India using coal and then transporting it by sea to the UK?

The image is of a Babcock apprentice welding at Rosyth. So much of our manufacturing uses steel.