More steelwork jobs to go

[999tigger]

That's odd. Going back half a dozen post that seems to be exactly what you were putting yourself forward as.

 

But as the world is awash with steel. The Chinese manufacture as much steel in a week as the UK uses in a year. The Chinese produce steel from ore. That steel won't become part of a Nissan for 6 months. If the Chinese knocked off any subsidy they might have given their steel industry, it doesn't alter the fact that they could make steel far cheaper than the rest of the market, and there are millions of tons of it in transit all over the world.

It would take a year for any price increase that such a policy might cause to effect the market. Even then our steel would still be overpriced and couldn't compete with steel from India, Brasil, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Taiwan, Iran, Ukraine, Poland, Taiwan, Mexico, Vietnam and Egypt, all of whom are making huge amounts of steel using labour considerably cheaper than that of the UK. So any intervention that might be made, or any gesture politics from the Chinese would be peeing into the wind.

 

---------- Post added 21-10-2015 at 16:32 ----------

 

 

In a nutshell.

 

If they go out of business because they cant compete on equal terms then so be it. Never said anything different.

 

Your other point was random and bizarre.

[Bob Arctor]

Billions were pumped into the banking world when they had problems but zero help for a core industry that produces materials fundamental to the construction and defence fields.

 

If you want a bailout you need to screw up on an enormous scale and put the whole global economy at risk. You also need to spend your time doing something that is useless to most people such as busying yourself with collateralised debt obligations, credit default swaps, sub-prime lending and convergence trades, not doing something useful like making steel.

 

If you do the former you will be bailed out and basically let off so that you can carry on as you were. If you make steel, jog on.

[fuddyduddy4]

I take your point that steelworks should compete or fall in the open market but I would like to put forward another point.If the government refuses to subsidise the steel industry we will lose it completely both the plant and the expertise.Now steel ,not plastic that has been suggested ,is crucial to our countries defence .So in years to come we will be totally reliant on other countries for steel as we are for power because we have closed our coal mines and we are importing more gas.These two factors together with the drastic reduction in the armed forces are going to leave us wide open to powers like Russia and China who might fancy to have their wicked way with us.Churchill must be turning in his grave.So my point is for the government to keep the steel industry ticking over for security purposes even if it means subsidising it.

[ricgem2002]

I wonder how many of these people who keep currently slating the british workforce for wanting a decent wage, suddenly saw their jobs being lost because foreign competitors could do it cheaper:huh:

[WiseOwl182]

I take your point that steelworks should compete or fall in the open market but I would like to put forward another point.If the government refuses to subsidise the steel industry we will lose it completely both the plant and the expertise.Now steel ,not plastic that has been suggested ,is crucial to our countries defence .So in years to come we will be totally reliant on other countries for steel as we are for power because we have closed our coal mines and we are importing more gas.These two factors together with the drastic reduction in the armed forces are going to leave us wide open to powers like Russia and China who might fancy to have their wicked way with us.Churchill must be turning in his grave.So my point is for the government to keep the steel industry ticking over for security purposes even if it means subsidising it.

 

We now have the Chinese designing, building and owning nuclear facilities in this country. I'd suggest our ability to make steel comes somewhat further down in our security risk chart.

 

---------- Post added 21-10-2015 at 21:58 ----------

 

So run it by me again from when you were picking up your economics degree. Then tell me about how the UK can pay wages 10 times higher than China whilst we compete on a level playing field.

 

Labour costs are a relatively low proportion of steel production. It's capital and energy intensive. Cheap energy with no green taxes for rival producers, dumping, along with a strong pound, are much more significant aspects of why UK steel is currently losing out.

[exxon]

We now have the Chinese designing, building and owning nuclear facilities in this country. I'd suggest our ability to make steel comes somewhat further down in our security risk chart.

 

---------- Post added 21-10-2015 at 21:58 ----------

 

 

Labour costs are a relatively low proportion of steel production. It's capital and energy intensive. Cheap energy with no green taxes for rival producers, dumping, along with a strong pound, are much more significant aspects of why UK steel is currently losing out.

 

I'm not sure I agree with that. We have around 30,000 folk involved in making steel. They produce around 11 million tons. That's 300 tone per man per year. So if average cost per employee is £30,000, then that is £100/ton in labour costs alone. Bulk steel is selling at around £200/ton.

[Anna B]

Why do we not use British produced steel for our own infrastructure, and also ensure projects for British workers? Add in the cost of funding the unemployed created by buying in from abroad, and it probably isn't that much cheaper to outsource these jobs.

 

I believe other countries like Germany are far more likely to provide work for their own companies and people. We should do the same.

[Eric Arthur]

Because British steel is usually more expensive. Thats all there is to it.

 

Germans buy the cheapest steel too.

[exxon]

Why do we not use British produced steel for our own infrastructure, and also ensure projects for British workers? Add in the cost of funding the unemployed created by buying in from abroad, and it probably isn't that much cheaper to outsource these jobs.

 

I believe other countries like Germany are far more likely to provide work for their own companies and people. We should do the same.

 

Do you buy British made cars and other goods that use British steel?

[*_ash_*]

Why do we not use British produced steel for our own infrastructure, and also ensure projects for British workers? Add in the cost of funding the unemployed created by buying in from abroad, and it probably isn't that much cheaper to outsource these jobs.

 

I believe other countries like Germany are far more likely to provide work for their own companies and people. We should do the same.

 

Can you not read one of the many posts ECCO has posted answering this, that you continually ask?