The UK government is developing a plan to nationalise Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds announced in the UK’s House of Commons on 14 September, seeking to revive production at the troubled steelworks.
Sources close to the matter consider the restart of SSUK’s electric arc furnace (EAF) capacities to be all but certain for December, reporting that the Official Receiver has been releasing funds in line with what would be required for a restart before end-of-year.
A winding-up order was granted for SSUK in August 2025, putting the steelmaker’s administration process under the Official Receiver.
Since then, the government has been keen to find a private sector solution for SSUK – with private investment featuring heavily across March’s UK steel strategy – as was the case with British Steel, following government seizure from the Chinese owner Jingye, in April last year.
Against those intentions, the government failed to find a suitable buyer for British Steel, instead taking the steelmaker into state ownership in July.
According to sources, finding commercial synergies – potentially via consolidation of the UK’s primary and downstream steelmaking assets – has long been in the government’s sights, particularly in relation to British Steel and SSUK while under state administration.
Greenfield steelmaking company Blastr, which is developing new green direct-reduced ironmaking (DRI) capacities in Finland, was granted preferred bidder status for SSUK earlier this year, prior to the lapse of the exclusivity period in June.
Dow Jones Energy understood that Blastr was still actively involved in the bidding for SSUK despite the end of preferred bidder status, and so – it seems – did Blastr, expressing disappointment at the news of nationalisation:
“We are disappointed by the Government’s decision today concerning Speciality Steel UK, and we were not informed in advance,” Blastr replied to Dow Jones Energy on 14 September. “Over the course of several months, we have advanced our plans for a private sector solution to acquire SSUK – and were today on site in South Yorkshire with investors and strategic partners. We have a fully-funded proposal – at no cost to the British taxpayer – that is ready to complete within 12 weeks.”
Sources attribute the long negotiation period between the government and SSUK to frictions on project financing, suggesting that the government was dissatisfied with how far Blastr’s proposal would expose UK taxpayers. Sources also expect that the government’s nationalisation of British Steel could have altered its willingness to take ownership of SSUK, potentially able to find greater sector synergies for the steelmaking assets under mutual ownership.
Author: Benjamin Steven
