shhhh, his dressed in tartan and face painted ready to shout loud outside his nearest polling station, tomorrow. Don't wake him.
This is true. One of the (many) problems at the minute is all/most of the Ferrous Ore and special additives used for our speciality steels come from Brazil. Due to the mine disaster and flooding in January, the Brazillian government has cut back on its Ferrous Ore production leaving British Steel with no option but to look else where, Russia and China can supply the ore but at a cost and in vastly smaller amounts than we need. Russia and China are reluctant to increase their production because they know the Brazillian mines will start production again and then the status quo will return. A couple of examples. We are struggling to get Ferro Manganese at the minute, we could use Low Carbon Ferro Manganese, it is more readily available but it is twice the price of standard manganese, you then have to potentially add more carbon to the steel to hit the specs, this is added costs that can`t really be passed on to the customer. You will all have seen Chrome Vanadium on your spanners, Chromium Vanadium steel is more hardenable and resistant to oxidation. Vanadium prices have increased from approx £20k per tonne to £80-100K per tonne. You could cut down on the vanadium content to lower the price but then you end up with micky mouse spanners made from cheese. The very same cheese the Chinese stuff is made from, and we all love our Chinese brake levers and clip ons etc. I don`t know what the answers are to saving the Steel Industry. I don`t know if it can be saved, I hope it can. I`ve always been lucky with jobs and I`m sure, worse case, something else will turn up but, all I know is I enjoy my job, we make the best steel in the world and we are bloody good at it. Would be a shame to lose another piece of our industrial heritage.
It didn't help with greybull buying it for a pound. They created companies within companies and loaned to themselves with interest rates applied to so they took money out that way and with management fee's etc. They did the exact same with comet and monarch airlines Not all steel made in the U.K. is specialist steel and where it is made, there are quite a few european competitors. This is why so many western countries I feel are moving away from the heavy industries or they go under. No one can compete with countries and companies were wages are peanuts, safety not so high and interference from the green lobby. The £100 million loan from the government was to pay the eu the carbon fee they needed to pay, had we left on the 29th, there is some doubt if they would have needed to do that. I'm hoping if we have a clean break and we can determine our own future, we can have in place a law passed that says all government contracts in regards to steel, it must have a minimum of X percent from British steel companies. Does that help the people in these places? of course not. In my own working life I have been laid off 3 times in 40 years, it's not fun and can have quite an impact.
This is all too complicated for me. But, I just feel like we can't keep losing proper jobs. Surely someone has to make something that produces wages to spend in this service economy of ours. Where will the wealth come from to spend on jobs for burger flippers, taxi drivers, leisure and hospitality sector, housekeeping etc. In the drive to facilitate more Billionaires we're depriving money from community i.e. Police, NHS, Roads, Military, proper jobs etc I don't like it. TB
It’s not just the making of physical “things” that makes money. Selling ideas, thoughts and expertise makes money too, provided you can sell those things to other people with money.
I read the ‘specialised’ steel British Steel in Scunthorpe was making was railway tracks. Perhaps not so specialised after all. Also, there’s nothing really ‘British’ about it at all, apart from the name applied to the business when the VC bought it for £1 from Tata. British Steel as a nationalised steel producer died a long time ago. Whilst I have a lot of sympathy for the 5000 employees and the 20,000 affected in suppliers it’s demise has been written on the wall for years. Tata saw it & off-loaded it, the VC saw it and made sure they made money on it. Its the people of Scunthorpe who suffer because they didn’t see it, or ignored it, or could do sweet FA about it.
I acknowledge this point and agree with it. But for me, this addresses wealth creation, albeit for a minority who are aiming for billionaire status. The only way this money gets back into the economy is via the trickle down theory which for me is bullshit, it doesn't address community. These people / companies can create ideas anywhere and usually pay tax anywhere too. At least with manufacturing more money gets into community thru wages. If I think back to my O level geography, steel plants need to operate at 95% capacity to be efficient so if there is a dip in production thru Brazil or Brexit or whatever Mr PLC isn't going to chip in until the end of the dip. I also acknowledge that if Gov.com helped it then the US or the EU would slap tarrifs on it as a result, making it a catch 22. I'm just sad that pure capitalism has no patriotism and is globally mobile, I have difficulty being happy with a country that has a deficit every year and growth funded on credit cards. TB
Bearing in mind that steel making plants are pretty bad when it comes to emissions, it comes as no surprise to me that it has happened. Sort of reminiscent of closing coal mines.
Welcome to Great Britain. I've been searching for a picture of a Lib Dem or Change Party supporter that has been attacked by a far-right Leaver. So far,no success. Funny that. "A milkshake has been thrown over this supporter outside of a polling station this morning!! This man in Aldershot served his country in the Armed Forces for 22 years. Today he went out to exercise his democratic rights on an election day and this is what disgusting Remainer scumbags did to him"!
The rail tracks made at scunthorpe are specialised steel, they are the longest in the world and have a special coating.
Losing steel manufacturing should never be allowed to happen in any circumstances. It’s a strategically important industry.
