British Steel may close coke ovens to cut carbon bills

Scunthorpe-based steelmaker British Steel intends to close its coke ovens to reduce the amount of carbon credits it must purchase.

The producer may close facilities as early as June, after which it will import marketable coke, eliminating the need to buy allowances for its coke-chemical facilities. Blast furnaces will continue to operate.

One local source said the closure could result in the loss of more than 500 jobs, although news reports suggest that up to 800 people could be at risk.

The Community Union stated that it would use "every means at our disposal to combat this dangerous plan".

British Steel is in talks with the government to support the decarbonisation program, although the £300m it has reportedly been offered is not enough to replace any of its blast furnaces, let alone all of them.

British Steel has four blast furnaces, known locally as the "four queens", but only two are in operation. The company has said in recent months that it will have to close the furnaces if it does not receive government support.

Sources suggest that the closure of coke ovens could move the company one step closer to importing steel semi-finished products for its production, rather than producing pig iron and crude steel.

Source: Argus Media