British Steel Pension Scheme Changes To Give Industry Boost?

News last week (August 12th) provided a much-needed boost to the flagging British steel industry as arrangements were made to restructure the British Steel Pension Scheme making a rescue bid far more likely.

The pension funds deficient stands at least £300 million, but as mentioned in a members update here, if Tata does not remain in the UK this deficit could rise much higher. Some sources believe the deficit could be as high as £700 million.

The scheme’s assets now total over £15 billion and according to independent experts, the scheme is performing the best of all the comparable large pension funds.

Other good news comes from the European Union (EU), which has imposed tariffs on the import of Russian and Chinese rolled steel. Despite high import duties, Chinese steel accounted for 27 per cent of European imported steel last year.

Due to China’s overproduction problem, cheap Chinese steel is flooding the UK market, making it difficult for the industry in what are already challenging times. Worryingly, Britain’s decision to leave the EU may have come at an inopportune time, when relations with China need to be maintained but the impact of their cheap steel is undermining our own industry.

This could see the cost of reinforced bar go up if it is one of the areas affected by the tariff hike in October.

A spokesman for Eurofer said: “There’s been a shift in understanding amongst EU members which we welcome, but we would call on them to do more to efficiently and effectively defend the industry.”