//Britain needs a sustainable manufacturing industry, and steel is essential to that.//
britain's steel output is a tiny fraction of the total global steel production, and at least one third of that (per year) is lying unused. the chinese can make steel at a fraction of our cost but that's not the problem as most of our steel comes from the EU. EU countries can also make steel considerably cheaper than the UK, principally because of the swingeing cost of energy in this country, not to mention the completely unrealistic environmental targets and taxes (introduced by, guess who....?)
so UK steel production is not sustainable, nor will it be unless a way can be found to mitigate the costs that make the UK uncompetitive. even then, because of the tiny production level the UK doesn't make the right kind of steel that most of our manufacturing industry needs.