British Steel
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British Steel
22-05-2019 1:15 PM - edited 22-05-2019 1:16 PM
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British Steel in name only, but should we the taxpayer be handing over even more money to the likes of Greybull Capitial?
Desperately sorry for the many that will lose jobs and fully aware the defence and security should we have to import steel, but what choice is there other than nationalisation.
Should we let it die naturally, or give life support to a patient that is terminal.
The graph below from the above link makes stark viewing, and that's putting it mildly.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who somebody else is today
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 1:26 PM
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Your graph, and the "statistic" "china produced 110 TIMES MORE crude steel than UK."... and no mention of how big the chinese steel industry ( nationalised of course ). is... compared to the UK stell industry...
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 1:56 PM - edited 22-05-2019 2:15 PM
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A quick check shows that in 2018 the UK produced 7.7m tons, and China is top of the table with 928m tons. Even allowing for the fact that they consume over 80% of it themselves, that still leaves an enormous amount they dump on the world market. Cripes, even Belgium and Vietnam are better at producing the stuff than we are.
Source. Wikipedia.
P.S. As for how big, in 2018 there were over 12m workers employed in their steel and coal industry.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who somebody else is today
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 2:21 PM
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@Minivanman wrote:
P.S. As for how big, in 2018 there were over 12m workers employed in their steel and coal industry.
At a very very rough estimate, then.... 12m workers in chinese steel AND coal industry... compared to less than probably a quarter of a million in the UK .. Wage costs in China must be so much lower too....
By the way... the UK produces more steel than Barbados, & Maruitius, put together... so .. we are doing really well, ..... !
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 3:31 PM
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China is also shedding workers by the thousands but comparisons do little for the fact that this place looks like it's going to go down that pan which is a crying shame. Having to import iron ore across thousands of miles cannot help either but, it's the way of the world I guess and although I hate to knock the old country, something has gone pear if not steel shaped that's for sure.
Onwards and upwards... to somewhere.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who somebody else is today
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 3:59 PM
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Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who somebody else is today
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 4:29 PM
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I see in pmq's the PM has said that giving Brit Steel a loan would be illegal....A E.U. diktak??????
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 4:45 PM - edited 22-05-2019 4:45 PM
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Not only that but Greybull have the cheek to blame 'you know what' despite EU steel company shares trading at their lowest in nearly three years, driven down by weak demand, high raw materials costs and cheap imports that can no longer reach the United States due to trade tariffs according to Reuters News.
On sale for only a pound if anybody is interested, which is what that investment comapny paid for it.
Err, no thanks.
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Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 4:47 PM
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@Minivanman wrote:
"What do Comet, My Local, Rileys, Monarch Airlines and British Steel have in common?They were all acquired and owned by Greybull private equity.And they all went bust"@afneil
Hilco are the same too - they had their hand in teh collapse of Maplin and now Office Outlet (formerly Staples) among others.
Asset stripping of UK firms that have taken hard workers decades to build up is the new fashionable thing for the rish. Stuff the hard workers who grafted their butts off, just buy it, break it and profit from it.
Like idiots, our government continues to allow it - deliberately watching our country be town to shreds while convincing itself that it's doing the right thing by letting the "free market" work at it's best - destroying itself.
These same morons were convinced that we had the best in banking too - who then brought the country to it's knees...
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 5:06 PM - edited 22-05-2019 5:15 PM
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I guess thats mixed market economies for you.
I'm all for nationalisation of essential services and putting them into those 'private for profit' hands are an anathema for many, myself included, but can steel production be regarded as such, that's the rub.
Corbyn of course wants it nationalised at the drop of a hat of course which is a bit like trying to mount a horse after it's bolted. Let the market and the rest of the world decide? It certainly seems like it with or without those EU tariffs.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who somebody else is today
Re: British Steel
22-05-2019 7:04 PM
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Correction to message 7 for fairness......The BBC says the loan would be illegal under EU law and also WTO rules
Re: British Steel
23-05-2019 6:10 AM
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@Minivanman China is also shedding workers by the thousands but comparisons do little for the fact that this place looks like it's going to go down that pan which is a crying shame.
Talking to my work colleague (who has lived around these parts for many many years) he reckons the steel works has been living on borrowed time for years. No surprise really.
What would i miss? The red glow emanating (its more like a flame thrower) from one of the chimney stacks, usually first thing in the morning (really is a sight to see, even when you're miles away). Mind you the amount of black stuff that comes out of the chimneys is a sight to behold as well. Maybe I won't have to wash the car so much! One reason I have never thought about moving nearer work.
Interesting about the Chinese though. But given there is 1.5Billion of them, 12 million workers doesn't seem too gross. Not sure if we produce more per worker or they are more efficient.

Re: British Steel
23-05-2019 6:30 AM
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We lived in the shadow of Port Talbot for years and as a bit of a local historian at the time some of the images I found of how the area looked before industry blighted the landscape are truly amazing.
It still stinks around there of course and I for one would like to see that four mile long line of filth wiped off the map but there you go, it's been jobs before environment across most of south Wales for a couple of hundred years so I don't see it changing any time soon - or maybe not fingers crossed.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who somebody else is today
Re: British Steel
23-05-2019 7:46 AM
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Re: British Steel
23-05-2019 8:21 AM - edited 23-05-2019 8:29 AM
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@Minivanman wrote:
We lived in the shadow of Port Talbot for years and as a bit of a local historian at the time some of the images I found of how the area looked before industry blighted the landscape are truly amazing.
It still stinks around there of course and I for one would like to see that four mile long line of filth wiped off the map but there you go, it's been jobs before environment across most of south Wales for a couple of hundred years so I don't see it changing any time soon - or maybe not fingers crossed.
We stayed at a Hotel, there, for Christmas.... very nice...
Sunset over Swansea Bay
Sailing into the Sunset
Tranquility Bay
At the end of the day
Sunset Rider
On Golden Sands
SUNRISE over the STEEL WORKS
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