Part 4/5:
The sale of the remnants of British steel to a Chinese company serves as a pivotal moment in this narrative. The new owners now demand substantial investments to build electric arc furnaces, which, while capable of producing steel, predominantly recycle secondary steel rather than creating primary steel suitable for high-resilience applications like military hardware.
Moreover, electric arc furnaces consume vast amounts of electricity, further exacerbating the problem created by the already soaring energy costs. This adds another layer of complexity and concern to the future of heavy manufacturing in the UK.