British Steel has revealed it is to cut almost 260 jobs at its Scunthorpe site in North Lincolnshire.

This follows its decision to shut down its coke ovens.

The company has reported that its energy and carbon costs increased by £190 million last year.

“Decisive action” is required it said to tackle the unprecedented rise in operating costs, surging inflation and the need to improve environmental performance.

British Steel Chief Executive Officer Xifeng Han said: “To support the journey to net zero, our owners, Jingye, have invested £330 million in capital projects during their first 3 years of ownership and they continue to invest unprecedented sums of money in British Steel.

“Jingye is committed to our long-term future but decarbonisation is a major challenge for our
business and, like most companies, we’re facing significant challenges because of the economic
slowdown, rising inflation and exceptionally high energy prices.

“For example, last year our energy bill rose by £120 million while we’ve also faced an increase of over £70 million in our annual carbon costs.

“We have taken action to reduce costs within our control; however, steelmaking in the UK remains
uncompetitive when compared to other international steelmakers. Our energy costs, carbon costs and labour costs are some of the highest across the world, which are factors that we cannot influence directly.”