By The country’s main steel producer has temporarily stopped taking new orders for production blaming extreme high demand.
British Steel’s sudden decision to close the order book came out of the blue this week when letters were sent to stock holders and steelwork contractors.
The letter headed ‘Notification of extreme demand and capacity contraints’ said: “Due to extreme high demand impacting on capacity levels, I am writing to inform you that British Steel is temporarily closing the order book, and therefore with immediate effect we are unable to accept any new orders for production.
“Please note that ex-stock sales are unaffected by this announcement, and that we shall continue to despatch materials already produced as normal.”
There are fears that steel shortages could hit large projects after British Steel stopped taking orders on structural steel sections due to “extreme demand”.
Steve Morgan/British Steel
The company, which is the only UK manufacturer of structural steel sections, has been hit by the worldwide strain on the supply.
British Steel has been rumoured to be working 24/7 across all production machines in recent weeks and has been struggling to deliver orders on time for some customers.
The decision to stop taking new orders is unlikely to have an immediate impact on building projects because orders will have been placed months in advance. But it could bring disruption to smaller jobs and have an impact later this year.
British Steel Scunthorpe we’re approached for comment.
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