UK Steel Industry & Media Reporting

The main reason coal is imported into the UK is because air quality legislation means that to meet them the coal has to be sulphur free.

Unfortunately most coal mined in Britain has a high sulphur content so cannot be used for most industrial purposes. Foreign coal comes mainly from countries that can produce low sulphur coal far more cheaply than the UK, even with the cost of transport.

The Cunbrian mine will produce low sulphur coal, but I wonder about the economics. Looking at the geological column submitted with the planning application, none of the seams they plan to mine are very thick, compared with their competitors, many of whom use opencast methods, inherently a much cheaper way of exploiting coal measures.

Further to railman's comments re BS and coke being available in the UK so no need to import coal from abroad.
I'm afraid that won't help as Cumbria Mining have only just got the go ahead from CCC to show their plans meet their criteria and implement any changes, which Cumbria Mining believe will be completed by end of 2019.
Their proposals look good, very high tech and it's a brilliant website with interactive elements, so even lay persons can get to grips with the basics.
They are also recruiting more staff.
This is a slick operation but no product will be available until 2023 which doesn't help BS.
No doubt, when CM started out 5 years ago, they had BS in mind as one of their customers. Now, sadly, it will have to rely on steelworks in Wales and abroad.
Maybe some job losses can be absorbed by CM if applicants have the right qualifications but it will still leave far too many in limbo.
Meanwhile, metallurgical coal will still be imported.

I might add, I think the judgment of history on Mrs Thatcher will not be favourable. Many of this countries current evils are the direct result of the actions of governments led first by her and then by Tony Blair.

Thank God I never voted for either of them.

Maisie Thanks, I have read it and it shows what a basket case British Steel was and how all the money paid into it by the government is going into the pockets of a very dubious set of venture capitalists.

As I have said all along, the palnt should have gone and the money been invested in the community years ago.

Correct Maizie, Thatcher did some good and a lot of harm, successive governments have done the same, short term gain through privatization instead of getting management right. Then when it goes wrong ( Carrillion) has to pick up the bill anyway.

Ironic, too, that Thatcher worked to destroy British industry on ideological grounds and in favour of the services industry. When, if we leave the EU, services will be the most difficult area to work into trade agreements.

It is an absolute tragedy that strategic industries and services have been hived off to foreign companies in the interest of short term gain. China isn’t investing in nuclear power in the UK to help us, it’s to to make money for them and control us, they have no new technology advantage
You can be sure they are only doing it for their own purposes, it’s a classic takeover scenario cut prices bankrupt the opposition then increase yours and screw the consumer.

Even though Steel is foreign owned at least it still operates in the UK and can be nationalised if needed, the same applies to the Railways, they are strategic if less road traffic is going to happen.
Let’s use the car industry as an example, we don’t have one do we. Japan does, so do USA, China, Germany, France, Italy and Korea, is our ambition really to be a third rate power behind Korea that has national Shipbuilding, Steel and Computer industries as well.

MOnica and Grandad

I think you might find this article by Frances Coppola (economist specialising in banking and finance) interesting:

www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2019/05/23/how-a-private-equity-firm-brought-about-the-death-of-british-steel/#5312e29e4824

Interesting thought. We, to all intents and purposes, have no government at the moment. Should any decision have been made about BS while we are in this state?

Maw, we were was just thinking, perhaps you are right. Therefore, first thing tomorrow, me and Carol my wife are going out to sell our cars and buy two pushbikes or perhaps even a tandem.

Just think of the savings we will make and wealth and more wealth will be ours.

Carol just said "thinking about it, can you ride Tandem"

Grandad why should you or anybody be surprised ?
I think we have had a thread in the past on the subject of people who seem/claim to have lots of money scrimping and saving in everyday life.
Maybe that is how they accrued their shedloads !

Elvive, there is a women on this forum who so often speaks of her wealth, and yet travels on a Megabus using vouchers?

Does make one wonder. ?

Elvive
Please be careful what you write.
Personal attacks are not welcome on GN.

Grow up Grandad1943
You didn't even apologise for erroneously connecting me in two posts after I had told you I had no link to the banking bailout.
You continued to associate me with it.
In RL that would be defamation.

Concede.

GabriellaG54, you are just not worth replying to any further.

Inconsistencies in every post.

GabriellaG54 Quote [It was a correction to my earlier post today 15.52.] End Quote

GabriellaG54, you who are at the front of belittling those on this forum who make grammar or spelling mistakes has made one yourself and taken several hours to realise that, terrible.

Also that has occurred on the same day that you had to conseed that you did not know recently if you were on a Greyhound or Megabus.

Very bad day GabriellaG54, awful day. ?

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Grandad1943
When you have a mandate to speak for forum members other than yourself.

Meantime, do restrict any comments about me to the truth, not your version of it which paints an entirely different picture.

M0nica, you obviously have not read thoroughly my post @ 20:29 today.

In that post, I have stated that the ballot of the Banks and whole Finance industry was necessary. However, still very many people were
severely affected by the recession (depression) brought about by the greed of that industry.

However, had not Tony Blair and his cohorts allowed their friends in the Banking Industry in Britain to retain their companies as unregulated despite many warnings of what that might bring, then perhaps such a Bailout would not have been necessary

That is part the reason why the Labour Party/movement in Britain has moved to the left in recent years.

Elvive
Are you confident as to the veracity of that statement?

It was a correction to my earlier post today 15.52 .

Grandad once again you haven't read what I said and you haven't answered the question I asked.

1) The banks have not - yet - repaid all the money but they have paid a lot

2) Yes, the bankers greed and bad management caused the crisis, I have never denied that, but if the money hadn't been lent, we would have been reduced to the state Greece was in when their crisis hit, people starving in the streets, all state benefits slashed - there would probably be no housing benefit to help people at all and pensioners would have seen their income cut and, probably no income supplements for the poorest, health cover would be limited and probably families would ahve to feed patients themselves.

Any benefits paid out because of the bail out is nothing compared with the billions of money cut from benefits, health, education, and all public services that would have followed if we hadn't bailed them out.

The loans were worth it because the costs to you me and every other person in this country would have been so much higher if they hadn't been made. We saved money and avoided financial ruin by making those loans.

Elvive

I told you quite clearly that my OH is CEO of a private bank which does not have bricks and mortar on any UK High Street and was not involved, in any remote way whatsoever, with the UK government's bailout of bank

er no, yet another pack of lies.... ah well