British Steel: A Unique Record of Public Regulation

Abstract

The iron and steel industry of the United Kingdom is unique in at least three respects which are important in any examination of its present condition and prospects. It is the world's oldest capitalistic iron and steel industry. It is widely dispersed geographically—a factor which distinguishes it particularly from the steel industries of other western European countries with which it is most in competition. Finally it has experienced what must surely be the most extended period of changing economic and political circumstances to which any industry in a predominantly private enterprise nation has been subjected in modern times.While the intention here is to concentrate upon the political economy of the industry in recent years, it is useful to begin with some review of relevant geographical, structural, and historical factors. The structure of the industry is summarized in Table I.The geographical dispersion of the industry contrasts rather sharply with the concentration of German steel in the Ruhr and of the French industry in Lorraine. It is, however, not difficult to explain in terms of the original wide-spread occurrence of coal and iron in Great Britain and of the specialized steel-making and steel-using skills which have developed in various parts of the country since 1850, even earlier in the instance of Sheffield. In Scotland and to some extent on the northeast coast and around Sheffield the industry has continued strong mainly because of the market for steel and the supply of specialized labour and knowledge, which has survived the exhaustion of coal or iron ore in these districts. In fact both the northeast coast and Yorkshire retain important reserves of coal, and other more recent considerations have helped to sustain and expand production in these sectors.