British Steel’s Turkish Contract Puts Spotlight Back on the Case for UK Steelmaking

The announcement of British Steel’s deal to supply rail for Turkey’s Ankara–İzmir high-speed railway has reignited a debate about the importance — and the future — of steelmaking in the UK. The eight-figure contract with ERG International Group is a commercial win, but it has also prompted a broader conversation about what it would mean to lose the capability that produced it.
British Steel, at its Scunthorpe plant, is one of the last places in the UK where iron ore is turned into long steel products — the kind used in buildings, bridges, and railways. This integrated steelmaking capability is rare in the UK and is considered strategically important by those who argue that a country should be able to produce essential materials domestically. The Turkish contract is evidence that this capability still has genuine value.
The deal covers 36,000 tonnes of rail for the 599km Ankara–İzmir line — a flagship Turkish infrastructure project designed to cut travel times and reduce emissions. It has created 23 new jobs at Scunthorpe and restarted 24-hour production after more than a decade. UK Export Finance provided support, and the industry has praised the win enthusiastically.
UK Steel’s director general made the broader case explicitly, calling rail “a strategically vital, high-value product” and urging the government to protect and support British Steel’s ability to produce it. He called for stronger import safeguards and energy cost support — structural reforms that would help make UK steelmaking competitive in the long term.
With daily losses of £1.2 million and a total government bill of £359 million, the cost of maintaining that capability is high. But the Turkish contract puts a different frame on the question: not “how much is it costing?” but “what would we lose if it were gone?” The answer, for those in the industry and beyond, is: quite a lot.