Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

Hi all

I am I getting confused , how can British Steel have that name when it’s owned by a Chinese company and now looks they have run it into the ground and it’s about to close.

 

Because decades ago it was the nationalised British Steel that was then privatised (Margaret Thatcher and co), merged with a Dutch company to become Corus which was bought by Tata Steel, who sold it to Greybull Capital, it then went into insolvency and was eventually bought by it's current Chinese owners. All the way through British Steel has been a brand.
Unfortunately blast furnaces only last about 20 years then need relining and refurbishing, which is expensive and often prompts a review of the plants viability. Given the UK's cost of energy and push towards zero carbon it's probably not economical given the current cost of steel on the world market.

 

Apparently it the only plant we have that can make virgin steel rather than melting down scrap.
They need to get the coal order sorted out so the fires don't go out.
I wonder where they are going to get that from, bearing in mind the green push won't let us mine coal anymore.

 

Polling card, it came then it went

 

Coke will probably be imported from India, China or Brazil. As we don't mine iron ore in this country they will continue to import this from Brazil, China and Australia.
That is why there is a deep water bulk terminal at Immingham just down the road.

 

I intend to exercise my vote, even if it means spoiling my ballot paper. Or voting for the most unlikely candidate - such as LibDem, or Loony Party!!

 

I think we have always had to import iron ore, but we did used to be able to use our own coal and was able to make coke.
You can really see why none of this is profitable anymore.

 

@pete the industrial revolution began in the UK because there were large deposits of iron and coal. There still are but it's cheaper to import them now althi I don't quite get the economic advantages of importing coke from the USA, Colombia and Canada - all those greenhouse sea miles plus the pure financial cost of exporting pounds sterling.

Not to mention the security implications of having no direct steel production to rely on in times of economic or military war.

 

Not always..I remember ore being extracted at Corby in the 60's....

 

possibly because housing and commercial developments are more profitable?

 

Posibly @noisette but more likely because labour costs in Colombia, USA, India etc are far lower than in the UK and no green legislation on greenhouse emissions.

 

British Airways springs to mind.

 

I think there was talk of opening up a coal mine in Cumbria? some time ago, to provide coke to the steel industry but the loud shouting from the Greens and net zero put the mockers on that.
So we either shut British Steel or import coke from thousands of miles away, because as we all know, its much better for the planet.

 

Aren't those two really one and the same?

 

The locals voted in favour of the coal mine in Cumbria because they struggle for work in the area. It is complete madness that any country thinks they are doing good by importing polluting products from elsewhere and then claiming green credentials. It is the same with gas, liquid natural gas was found to be 33% more polluting than coal according to one research paper.

Exported gas produces far worse emissions than coal, major study finds

The whole world is just being misled by governments. Most know our tyres were being shipped abroad and burned instead of being recycled and that's just the tip of the iceberg.