The boss of steel giant ArcelorMittal’s UK arm has warned the new government’s industrial strategy must do more to protect the steel industry’s supply chain.
Labour on Wednesday unveiled a £2.5bn steel industry fund and pledged £500m in subsidies to the owner of Port Talbot, Tata Steel, to secure the future of the embattled South Wales plant.
Unions have since criticised the deal for failing to secure around 2,500 jobs that Tata is likely to cut in the coming months.
“Whilst we clearly welcome [Wednesday’s] announcement around a new industrial strategy for the steel sector, this must go much further in seeking to protect and enhance steel supply chains,” Matt Brooks, managing director of ArcelorMittal Kent Wire, said.
“There are worrying signs that the UK construction sector is not as healthy as many had thought and it now faces the added impact of a potentially significant disruption to its supply chains.”
It comes after ArcelorMittal, the world’s second largest steel company, threatened to quit the UK over a protracted dispute surrounding the redevelopment of a commercial port in South East England.
An application by Peel Waters to turn part of Chatham Docks in Kent into a business hub would have “seismic adverse consequences” and force ArcelorMittal to “cease operations in Britain,” Brooks warned in a letter to the former levelling-up secretary Michael Gove in May.
Such a departure would mean the loss of some 30 per cent of the domestically produced steel mesh used by the UK’s construction sector in projects including HS2. ArcelorMittal also estimates the closure of what is the South East of England’s last remaining major non-tidal dock would see over 800 jobs lost.
“With the uncertainly around the future of Chatham Docks still hanging over us, our continued presence in the UK is now at serious risk along with hundreds of jobs,” Brooks said.
“If the government really is serious about supporting both the steel industry and the construction sector it needs to end that uncertainty now by calling-in and refusing this ill-thought planning application. For fundamentally you can’t build new homes, hospitals, road and rail bridges and power stations without construction steel product.”
The government has been approached for comment.