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British Steel’s Chinese owner has rejected a £500mn offer from the UK government to help switch to greener production, in a move that will raise concerns about the future of one of Britain’s biggest remaining steelmaking companies.
Sarah Jones, energy minister, told the House of Commons business select committee on Wednesday that the government had made the offer to British Steel’s owner Jingye on Monday to keep its operations going but that this had been rejected.
Jingye sent a letter to the government on Wednesday in which it turned down the approach, according to people familiar with the situation.
The Treasury had offered £500mn to try to sustain the business, given the strategic importance of the steel industry to Britain, the people said.
Jones said the government is “still very much talking to British Steel, every day”, but the development will cast doubt over the future of thousands of jobs at the company’s flagship site at Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.
British Steel operates the last two remaining blast furnaces in the UK after Indian-owned Tata Steel closed its last one in September.
British Steel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
