Supplies to be sent to Scunthorpe to keep British Steel blast furnaces going

British Steel’s blast furnaces are set to continue running with a delivery of enough raw materials to keep them alight for the “coming weeks” due on Tuesday, the government has said.
Coking coal and iron ore from the US will be unloaded at Immingham docks and transported to the Scunthorpe site after a scramble for supplies.
A separate shipment of materials is back on its way to the UK from Australia after a legal dispute over who owned the cargo was resolved between the government and British Steel’s owner Jingye.
The government seized control of the business over the weekend following a breakdown in talks with its Chinese owner amid accusations it was planning to switch the furnaces off.
If the furnaces were starved of fuel and went out, the UK would no longer have the capability to produce so-called virgin steel, due to the process of restarting them being extremely difficult and costly.

Source: BBC | Language: English