Part 3/9:
The seeds of British Steel's decline can be traced back to financial turmoil in 2019, when it entered insolvency proceedings. Rather than putting forth a robust plan to revive the company, the UK government opted to sell British Steel to the Jingye Group, a leading Chinese steelmaker, in 2020. This acquisition was framed as a substantial lifeline, with promises of a $1.5 billion investment to bolster the struggling operation. However, as time has shown, this assistance morphed into a bitter disappointment when Jingye only allocated a fraction of the promised funds, primarily in the form of loans unfavorable to local stakeholders.