British officials expect to double the profitability of the steel sector

The UK steel industry could increase its revenues by £ 3.8 billion a year by 2030, according to a government report that outlines opportunities to strengthen the sector and boost domestic steel demand.

The report, which is part of the Islands' Industrial Strategy, states that in 2015 national steel demand was 9.4 million tons, of which less than half - 4.4 million tons, or £ 1.6 billion - came from the UK. manufacturers.

UK steel demand is expected to rise to 11 million tonnes per annum by 2030 and annual UK steel sales could rise to 5.4 billion pounds.

The largest steel consumers in Foggy Albion will be the construction and automotive sectors of the industry.

The UK Industry Minister said in the comments:

"The government has made it clear that we will do everything we can to support our metallurgy ... We want British companies to become strong competitors in government contracts."

The UK, according to the ministry, has significant potential and capacity to meet demand. This can happen through the return to operation of mothballed factories or the construction of new ones, as well as investments in new technologies and R&D so that the latest types of steel can be produced.

Other challenges to be addressed include the higher energy costs, taxes and logistics faced by UK producers.

To help steel mills compete on future contracts, the government has also updated access to government funding. This includes planned budget spending of £ 600 billion, ranging from roads and railways to defense and nuclear power.

Two weeks ago, the G20 countries agreed to a deal to tackle excess capacity in the global metals industry, which was the main cause of the crisis in the UK sector two years ago. The agreement, signed at the G20 Hamburg Summit, is designed to end the unfair subsidies that distort the steel market, and is the first concrete step in tackling excess steel capacity and creating a level playing field.

Last year, a total of 1.6 billion tonnes of steel were produced - half of which came from Chinese factories. However, despite the fact that China is more than 800 million tons of steel per year, it is suspected of hiding another 300-400 million tons of production capacity, which are not included in the official statistics of the PRC.