The UK government plans to nationalize troubled Speciality Steel UK (SSUK) through a public acquisition, securing the future of another electric-arc furnace (EAF) in the country, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade said on Monday September 14.
The decision, which comes two months after the UK government nationalized British Steel, follows the conclusion that the preferred bidder was unsuitable for the proposed acquisition.
Without disclosing the preferred bidder’s identity, the government said that detailed due diligence and extensive discussions showed that the proposal lacked “the long-term stability, certainty and value for money that workers, communities and taxpayers deserve.”
Norwegian start-up Blastr was understood to be the preferred bidder, though exclusivity rights in the proposed sale lapsed in June.
“We do not intervene in private companies lightly. But nor can we simply stand aside and allow the future of this company and over 1,300 jobs to be decided by default,” said UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
He added the decision would keep options open to determine the best long-term future of SSUK as a specialty steelmaker. Further details, including a timeframe for the proposed acquisition, have not been confirmed.
The company, a division of Liberty Steel – part of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance – entered liquidation in August 2025 following longstanding financial challenges under previous ownership, particularly the collapse of its primary lender Greensill Capital in 2021.
SSUK’s assets include an electric-arc furnace with capacity to produce 1.3 million tonnes per year of steel, primarily specialty steel bars, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The company also has capacity to produce 300,000 tpy of hot-rolled coil and a range of other grades in Brinsworth, and up to 500,000 tpy of merchant bar in Stocksbridge. The company also owns a fourth site in Wednesbury, in the West Midlands.
Restart could boost domestic steel and scrap markets
Before its idling, SSUK was one of the UK’s major domestic ferrous scrap consumers, and its potential restart has been closely watched by steel and scrap market participants.
UK Steel, the trade body representing the country’s steelmakers and most downstream steel processors, welcomed the government’s move as operations at the South Yorkshire sites are scaled up to become fully operational later this year.
“The Stocksbridge, Bright Bar and Thrybergh rolling mills have been operational throughout the liquidation process and have been ramping up production for hire-work,” the association said. “Funding has also been made available to restart the melting operations, with the electric-arc furnaces well on track for a December restart date.”
“This government is once again stepping up to do what is needed for the UK steel industry,” added UK Steel director-general Gareth Stace, saying it would enable SSUK to take its place at the center of critical UK supply chains.
The steelmaker feeds into areas of critical national security including domestic aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing, producing steel for aircraft landing gear, helicopter rotors, and artillery casings. It is also a major supplier to the oil and gas, automotive and general engineering sectors, the association said.
“SSUK is a unique and integral component of the UK’s steelmaking capabilities, without which we would be entirely reliant on foreign suppliers for high-value speciality inputs to our critical energy infrastructure and our advanced manufacturing base,” added Roy Rickhuss, general secretary of British trade union Community Trade. “We cannot allow British industrial sovereignty in these areas to be lost.”
