Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the comparative level of the steel power price gap with competitor nations, following the recent increase in network compensation charging.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the recently published steel strategy, UK steel producers that benefit from British Industry Supercharger support and the current Network Charging Compensation scheme paid industrial electricity prices of £93 per MWh in 2025 (a 60% relief). The increase in compensation for network charges from 60% to 90%, which was announced in the Industrial Strategy and implemented from 1 April 2026, will reduce electricity prices for steel producers by a further £7 to £10 per MWh approximately.
The equivalent cost faced by industrial electricity users in France and Germany is £69/MWh and £60/MWh respectively. Using average electricity intensity factors for electric arc furnace-based steel production, the difference to UK producers equates to approximately £8-£13 per tonne of crude steel.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on the volume of diverted high-emission steel imports into the UK.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Charges under the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for relevant goods entering the EU Single Market have applied since January 2026. This includes EU imports of steel goods within scope of EU CBAM.
We are monitoring the EU CBAM and continue to engage with businesses. The EU CBAM may influence trade flows by changing relative costs between markets, with impacts remaining uncertain and dependent on commercial and policy factors.
The UK Government will introduce its own CBAM from January 2027 to protect against carbon leakage.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that British steel is not undercut by high-emission imports.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the steel strategy, the government is committed to creating a fair and competitive market for UK steel by addressing carbon leakage.
The Government will introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from January 2027. The UK CBAM is an environmental measure designed to tackle the risk of carbon leakage by ensuring that some of the most emissions intensive industrial goods imported to the UK face a comparable carbon price to what is paid domestically.
UK CBAM is led by HM Treasury, and the Department for Business and Trade are engaging with them on this measure.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to expand the Energy Supercharger package to include a larger proportion of the steel industry and related sectors including scrap.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade will conduct its review of the British Industry Supercharger this year, which will include a review of eligibility criteria. Any changes to eligibility criteria, or other parts of the policy, are subject to public consultation and ministerial approval. I encourage all stakeholders, including those in the steel and scrap sectors, to engage with this review when the opportunity arises and present all relevant evidence.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to extend the trade protection measures for steelmakers to their customers in the steel intensive manufacturing supply chain.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government recognises the distinct value of downstream users, including in the manufacturing supply chain, alongside the importance of maintaining a resilient domestic steel sector. The steel trade measure has been designed to addresses the serious threat posed by global steel overcapacity, which undermines the viability of UK steelmaking and, in turn, our critical national infrastructure and defence.
We have carefully balanced the needs of producers and downstream industry, and the product scope of the measure reflects this. There are no current plans to extend this scope, but we will continue to engage with downstream industry as the measure is implemented.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help unlock private investment in hydrogen infrastructure in Wales.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Wales plays a key role in the development of the UK's hydrogen economy, and I welcome the Milford Haven HAR1 project reaching FID in March this year, with three further shortlisted HAR2 projects in Wales.
The Industrial Strategy set out our public finance offer to crowd private investment into clean energy industries, such as hydrogen, across the UK including in Wales. This includes £500m support for hydrogen infrastructure to establish the UK's first regional hydrogen network from 2031, connecting producers with end users. The Government also aims to launch the first hydrogen transport and storage allocation rounds this year.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Business Secretary fortifies UK steel industry, published on 16 February 2026, how much of the £2.5 billion fund has been (a) allocated and (b) released.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government is committed to providing up to £2.5 billon to support the UK steel industry, which is being delivered in part through the NWF and in part through direct support for companies. This is in addition to the £500 million investment for Tata Steel in Port Talbot, bringing the total investment in the steel industry to up to £3 billion.
Funding for the sector is already being released through direct support for companies. This includes the grant to Tata Steel at Port Talbot, support for the Official Receiver’s sale process for Speciality Steels UK sites including Rotherham and Stocksbridge, and in securing the capabilities of British Steel at Scunthorpe. To date, funding of approximately £370 million has been provided to British Steel.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the European Commission’s proposals for the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on the competitiveness and decarbonisation of the UK steel sector.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are monitoring the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). As UK steel is covered by a domestic carbon price under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the sector is expected to face lower CBAM liabilities compared with goods from jurisdictions which do not incur a domestic carbon price.
The sector may still face costs of providing emissions data to EU importers to support compliance. We are engaging with the European Commission on ETS linking, to facilitate a mutual UK-EU CBAM exemption in due course.
The Government will introduce its own CBAM from January 2027 to protect against carbon leakage.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic and environmental benefits of retaining a greater proportion of UK-generated steel scrap for domestic Electric Arc Furnace use.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that the UK steel industry's shift towards electric arc furnaces will elevate the importance of high-quality scrap as a material for UK steelmaking. The Government has not performed an assessment of the economic impact of retaining scrap. However, we are actively listening to the perspectives of all involved parties.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to introduce national standards for Electric Arc Furnace-grade steel scrap.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that the UK steel industry's shift towards electric arc furnaces will elevate the importance of high-quality scrap as a material for UK steelmaking. The UK’s abundant scrap supply offers domestic steelmaking a strategic advantage and this creates opportunities for both steelmakers and metal recyclers alike. No decisions have been taken at this stage on whether to introduce mandatory national standards for Electric Arc Furnace-grade steel scrap, but we are actively listening to the perspectives of all involved parties.