A plethora of UK industry players have reacted strongly to reports of BP procuring Chinese steel to be used in the Net Zero Teesside project, Kallanish learns.
The high profile project to build a gas-fired power station using carbon capture and storage has partial taxpayer support and government backing, and is situated on the former Redcar steelworks site.
UK industry minister Chris McDonald says he is “deeply disappointed” by the choice to use China-origin steel. “We have been clear we expect Net Zero Teesside Power to use UK steel wherever possible and I will be meeting the company urgently to discuss this,” he adds.
Industry association UK Steel has condemned the move. Its director-general, Gareth Stace, says: “BP’s decision to buy 7,000 tonnes of Chinese steel, worth around £5 million [$6.7m] for the Net Zero Teesside project, rather than sourcing it from British Steel just miles away, beggars belief. For a major, taxpayer-supported project, this is deeply disappointing and should never have been allowed to happen.”
He adds: “UK producers, including British Steel in the region, have both the capability and capacity to supply this steel. This decision underlines why clearer expectations and firmer delivery are needed, so companies benefiting from public support cannot continue to offshore value, jobs and strategic capability when UK supply is available.”
Meanwhile, in a strongly worded social media post, Ben Houchen, mayor of the Tees Valley, said it was “staggering” that thousands of tonnes of Chinese steel would be imported for the project “while the UK’s own steel industry remains on its knees”.
He added: “I’ve raised this issue directly with Government ministers, officials and the leadership at NZT and have been absolutely clear that this is wrong. Those warnings have clearly fallen on deaf ears. Here in Teesside we know better than anywhere else the devastation caused by the closure of industries like steelmaking. To now use Chinese steel on the very site where our own steelworks shut a decade ago is nothing short of a slap in the face.”
He also noted that the project is backed by UK government, using taxpayer money, meaning there was “no excuse for British steel not being at the heart of it”. The government is disregarding British manufacturing and British workers, he added, comparing the situation to when German steel was used to build the Riverside Stadium in 1995 – during a Conservative government.
In a separate social media post, Ben Cunliffe, director of sustainability at British Steel, said the move was an example of “what is wrong with the UK’s industrial landscape and policies” and that it was a “huge slap in the face for the people of Teesside”.
“Billions of pounds of UK tax payers money being used to buy steel from China whilst British Steel’s Teesside Beam Mill only a mile or so from the project site, is overlooked. For the avoidance of doubt, our mill in Teesside is capable of supplying all of the structural steel for this project. It’s beyond outrageous,” he concluded.
Kallanish has approached BP for comment.
