The Future of Steel: A “Scrap” Over Scrap vs. Ore

The UK steel industry is facing a fundamental “scrap” over its future raw materials, as the government backs a move from iron ore to scrap steel. Business Secretary Peter Kyle’s endorsement of electric arc furnaces (EAFs) at Scunthorpe would pivot the entire industry towards a recycling-based model.
Currently, the UK’s “primary steelmaking” capability is based at Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces, which create virgin steel from iron ore. This is a capability unions are fighting to “maintain” and which the government itself had pledged to “preserve.”
Kyle’s new plan, however, is to scrap that model. EAFs “use electricity to melt down scrap steel.” This is a “cleaner” process that fits net-zero goals, but it makes the UK reliant on a steady, affordable supply of scrap metal, and abandons the ability to make steel from raw materials.
This pivot is the source of all the conflict. It “raise[s] doubts about the fate” of thousands of blast furnace jobs and breaks the 2024 pledge.
The only compromise is a costly hydrogen (DRI) plant that would allow EAFs to process iron ore. But with “industry sources” doubting its financial viability, the government is being forced to choose. The December steel strategy will be the final decision: will the UK’s future be built on virgin ore or recycled scrap?