Clean Steel Fund Announcement
Published: 03 September, 2019
Commenting on the Government announcement of the Clean Steel Fund, Gareth Stace, UK steel director general, said:
“Today’s announcement of the Clean Steel Fund is extremely positive news for UK steelmakers and the whole of the UK’s decarbonisation efforts. The fund is a vital step towards further reducing our carbon footprint here in the UK and will cement our position in a future low-carbon world.
“Recent years’ Government policy of carbon taxation and renewables funding has added costs to steel production through higher energy bills. As steel is an intensively traded product, this has had a negative impact on the sector’s competitiveness and leads to fears that we are exporting steel production, its jobs, and emissions, rather than lowering emissions at home.
“It is crucial that the Clean Steel Fund is designed in a manner that can be best used by the steel sector and make maximum use of funds allowed by state aid. This is not a time to be too cautious, as UK steelmakers face an uncertain business environment. The Government needs to move swiftly to secure a bright future for the sector while addressing the elements which undermines our competitiveness.”
