British Steel Wins Rail Contract Worth Tens of Millions Despite £1.2M Daily Loss

Even as it bleeds £1.2 million a day in losses, British Steel has managed to secure a major international contract to supply rail for a new high-speed railway in Turkey — a remarkable commercial achievement that illustrates both the plant’s genuine capabilities and the paradox of its current situation. The eight-figure deal with ERG International Group covers 36,000 tonnes of rail for the 599km Ankara–İzmir line.
The contrast between the commercial success and the financial reality could not be starker. On one hand, British Steel is winning prestigious global contracts, creating new jobs, and restarting 24-hour production after more than a decade. On the other, it is costing the public purse an eye-watering amount every single day, with total losses since the government takeover now standing at £359 million.
The Turkish deal, supported by UK Export Finance, will see Scunthorpe-made rail used on a line that is expected to transform connectivity in western Turkey, reducing travel times between Ankara and İzmir while cutting emissions. It is exactly the sort of high-value, technically demanding order that industry figures say British Steel is well-placed to win.
UK Steel has welcomed the contract, calling it a demonstration of British Steel’s world-class capability and urging the government to build on the momentum with structural reforms around energy costs and import protections. The director general emphasised that individual contracts, however significant, cannot alone address the “structural pressures facing the sector.”
The question hanging over all of this is: what happens next? The plant’s Chinese owner tried to close it, the government intervened, and losses have continued to mount. The Turkish deal is welcome, but it is not a solution in itself. What British Steel needs — and what it does not yet have — is a viable long-term ownership and investment model.