7ryMJjyBMgowKMZdQ~~_7.JPG "cee-dee"){kind=avatar}
When it was announced that TaTa ( Indian ) Steel, was going to close the Steel works at Port Talbot and possibly sell off ALL its Steel interests in the UK; putting ( potentially ) 15000 people out of work..........I HAD A VISION !!
Stop the overseas aid budget to INDIA and plough the money into the Steel Industry, I'd make them pay.......one way or another.
China's meteoric rise, to compete for top spot as the World's leading economy, was accompanied by an equally meteoric building programme. Among other things, this included steel plants; being built at the rate of one every couple of months or so. This made China self sufficient in Steel and CHEAP Steel ( due to extremely low production costs, compared to other Countries ) with Steel workers earning £50 to £100 per week. Hardly a level playing field now is it !! , however; had that steel remained in China, it would only have excluded that one market as an outlet for other Steel producers........annoying as it would have been, others would have survived. BUT, as China's economy has slowed dramatically ( including its building programmes ) it finds itself well overstocked with its own cheap steel........which it has now dumped onto the Worlds markets.
As we all know that the UK is NEVER going to be able to compete, with certain other Countries, when it comes to production costs; our main strengths lie in industries that are more advanced than other countries.......and therefore gives us the edge. One has to ask, however, that if our trade hinges so strongly on remaining in the EU.........How is all this cheap CHINESE Steel finding its way in. When did China join the EU ?? did I blink and miss something..........Add to that the fact that we didn't need the EU to negotiate THAT trade deal, did we, I'm sure we could have done that ALL BY OURSELVES.
As far as I know, they could only do that by using their "Veto" and I haven't heard about them doing that; so if you can find some corroboration, a link would be handy. I take it this would also be the same government, that want us to remain in the EU.......I don't know about you, but the more they open their mouths; the more I'm inclined to do the opposite.......to ensure my survival.
Let's look at the situation from a business point of view?
First, if you were TATA, would you sell your UK plants to what would then be a competitor?
If you were a "potential buyer" how would you compete with China where workers might be paid £200 a month?
If you bought the steel plants and continued producing steel, who would you sell it to?
Just looking at the above, would you put any money in to the UK steel business?
The UK used to have a big shipbuilding industry but where are the ships built now? = South Korea, China and Japan.
The only thing is, those countries turn out so much stuff, in the end there'll be so much of it kicking around, no-one will want it because they've saturated the market. They've certainly boomed, but over production will lead to bust!
I think it'll be goodnight, ta-ta.
