Warships: British Steel
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the last Royal Navy vessel was that was built primarily from British steel.
Answered by Maria Eagle
UK steel made a significant contribution to the construction of the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carriers, for which around 88 per cent of the structural steel was UK-sourced. This is a reflection of the fact that the QEC aircraft carriers are larger ships with a smaller requirement for thin plate steel needed for the construction of most warships. Additionally, the majority of steel for these ships was purchased around 15 years ago when the range of products manufactured by the UK steel industry was wider.
The amounts of thin plate steel required for shipbuilding cannot currently be reliably sourced in the UK. The sourcing of steel is a matter for our prime contractors, nevertheless we encourage them to source UK steel wherever it is technically and commercially feasible. The Department for Business and Trade publish a future pipeline of Ministry of Defence steel requirements annually, enabling UK steel manufacturers to better plan and bid for Government opportunities.
The forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy will seek to align our national security and economic priorities, including a review of our approach to critical supply chain elements such as steel.
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