British Steel to announce job losses, closure of coking ovens

British Steel was reportedly set to announce the closure of its coking ovens at Scunthorpe.

The timescale for its closure and the number of compulsory redundancies that it would involve was unclear, but according to the BBC, as many as 300 jobs might be set to go.

A spokesman for the steel maker reportedly blamed the global recession and higher costs, saying that it was only considering such a decision "reluctantly".

Government sources meanwhile said they were "disappointed" as talks between the company's Chinese owner, Jingye, Tata and the Treasury about a £300m support package for each company were still ongoing.

If the ovens were shut then the UK would need to import the coke necessary for the blast ovens in which steel is made.

According to union sources, the reason why the government's offers had been rejected thus far were the conditions attached to the same, included decade-long employment guarantees and their small size relative to the estimated £2bn needed to transition from blast furnaces to more energy efficient electric arc furnaces.