Cheaper energy, more cash and a bit of scrap: how to save British Steel

The government has taken control of British Steel, so averting the closure within days of the UK’s last two blast furnaces. However, the takeover leaves a big question: what next?Steep losses at British Steel prompted its Chinese owner, Jingye, to decide last month to close its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, which would end the production of “virgin” steel in the UK. The government stepped in with emergency legislation, passed in a single day last Saturday, to prevent that.The legislation has given the industry, workers and politicians time to work out how to build a doubly sustainable UK steel industry: one that makes money, while minimising carbon emissions.The future for Scunthorpe, if it is to have a future, will almost certainly be the electric arc furnace (EAF)

Sainsbury’s expects supermarket price war and rising costs to hit profits

Sainsbury’s has warned that profits are not likely to rise this year as it braces for an expected price war among the UK’s supermarkets and faces rising costs from higher wages.The group joined Tesco, Next and Marks & Spencer as one of a handful of retailers who have made £1bn in profits in the year to 1 March, but it does not expect to beat that figure this year despite plans to cut costs with more automation and warehouse closures.Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, indicated that the group was ready to take on Asda, which has pledged to cut prices in an attempt to win back market share, saying his business was “committed, above all else, to sustaining the strong competitive position we have built – consistently giving customers the great value they have come to expect”.Roberts said there was “pressure in the system” from the national insurance and minimum wage rises that came in this month, as well as new regulations on packaging that would inevitably “feed through to inflation”. However, he said the group would continue to invest in keeping prices down after spending £1bn doing so over the last four years

Polish parcel locker network InPost buys UK delivery firm Yodel for £106m

The UK parcel delivery company Yodel has been snapped up by the Polish parcel locker firm InPost in a £106m deal that will create the third-largest independent delivery business serving online retailers in Britain.InPost, which placed its first locker in Kraków in 2009, said the takeover would combine its drop-off and collection network with Yodel’s home delivery capabilities, “seamlessly integrating out-of-home and to-door solutions” under a single brand.It follows a tumultuous period for Yodel, which was saved from collapse in February last year, but had to secure fresh funding from a new consortium of investors five months later after the deal soured. It had previously been owned by the Barclay brothers, the reclusive billionaire twins and former Daily Telegraph proprietors.The GMB union welcomed InPost’s takeover of Yodel, which employs about 10,000 people

Temu and Shein warn of US price hikes from next week due to Trump tariffs

Two of China’s largest fast fashion retailers, Temu and Shein, have warned US customers that they will face price increases from next week, as Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on Chinese imports come into force.Both companies will be hit by new import levies, which will mean taxes of up to 145% being applied to Chinese goods. They will also suffer from Trump’s cancellation of the “de minimis” exemption, under which shipments worth less than $800 (£600) could be imported duty-free.That exemption was crucial in helping the low-cost retailers make inroads into the US market, where they were able to send low-cost online purchases with few expenses. It will be removed as of 2 May

Ministers in ‘active conversation’ with UK drug firms over potential tariffs

Ministers are having an “active conversation” with UK pharmaceutical firms about the potential impact of US tariffs, amid calls for an emergency taskforce to make sure the supply of medicines is not disrupted.The UK government has been trying to head off the threat of tariffs to the pharmaceuticals industry, which exports about £7bn of goods to the US – just behind the £8.3bn of car exports.Ministers and negotiators are fighting to keep the exemption from tariffs for British drugmakers through a possible trade deal, but one Whitehall source said it was “impossible to read the runes” about whether the Trump administration would hit them with the levies.Government sources said ministers had been talking to industry bosses about the potential impact and what could be done to help pharmaceutical exporters if tariffs were brought in

Italian coffee pot maker Bialetti to be sold to Chinese business NUO Capital

Bialetti, the Italian manufacturer of the famed stove-top moka coffee pot, has struck a deal to sell the business to an investment vehicle owned by a Chinese tycoon.Founded in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, an engineer who produced the first coffee pots from his workshop in Crusinallo, Piedmont, the company is being bought by Luxembourg-registered NUO Capital, which will pay €53m (£46m) for 78.6% of its shares.The deal is expected to close by the end of June before a tender for the remaining shares is launched, at a price of no less than €0.467 each, before the company is delisted from Milan’s stock exchange