UK Steel has condemned reports that a contract for around 7kt of steel for BP’s Net Zero Teesside project has been awarded to a Chinese supplier.
Despite the project receiving substantial taxpayer backing and support as part of the UK’s major decarbonisation programme, the approximately £5m contract has not been awarded to a producer based in the UK.
Gareth Stace, Director-General of UK Steel, said: “BP’s decision to buy 7kt of Chinese steel, worth around £5m for the Net Zero Teesside project, rather than sourcing it from British Steel just miles away, beggars belief. For a major, taxpayer-supported project, this is deeply disappointing and should never have been allowed to happen.
"The Government has been clear about its ambition to back British industry, strengthen domestic supply chains and treat steel as a strategic national asset. UK Steel strongly supports that direction of travel, which makes BP’s decision all the harder to understand. UK producers, including British Steel in the region, have both the capability and capacity to supply this steel.”
Net Zero Teesside is one of the UK’s highest-profile clean energy infrastructure initiatives, designed to deliver a large-scale gas-fired power station with carbon capture and storage.
Stace added: "Where projects benefit from public support, including through mechanisms such as Contracts for Difference funded by consumers and taxpayers, sponsors must be expected to align with Government policy in practice, not just in principle.
"This decision underlines why clearer expectations and firmer delivery are needed, so companies benefiting from public support cannot continue to offshore value, jobs and strategic capability when UK supply is available.”
