British Steel lands tracks contract with UK’s Network Rail

British Steel, owned by Chinese firm Jingye, has secured a five-year contract worth £500m to supply train tracks for the UK’s Network Rail train infrastructure company.

The deal, with an option to extend by three years, is a major boost for the  company’s Scunthorpe plant – saved from closure by the UK government in April – which utilises a basic oxygen steelmaking process, and relies on oxygen to convert molten iron into steel.

The process involves blowing high-purity oxygen at high speeds onto a mixture of molten iron and scrap additions, within a converter or vessel, to oxidise impurities and produce steel. A water-cooled lance is used to direct the oxygen stream onto the molten metal.

The rails in the new agreement will largely be used for maintenance and renewals.