Cumbria coal mine: Steel expert claims little demand for coal

Woodhouse Colliery would be the first new deep mine colliery for three decades

A proposed coal mine in Cumbria would have only one UK customer who would buy just a "small amount", a senior steel expert has said.

The Woodhouse Colliery in Whitehaven would supply metallurgical coal for the production of steel, not for energy.

Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Materials Processing Institute research centre, said only Tata Steel would buy it and would not want much.

But West Cumbria Mining said it was a "myth" no coal mines were needed.

Communities and Local Government Secretary Michael Gove, who is considering the application, is expected to make a decision by July.

At a public inquiry into the mine, which concluded in October, the company's solicitor said the UK and EU could not "continue to offshore our emissions for the next 30 plus years, by importing coal or by importing steel products".

Wrong quality

Supporters of the mine have told Mr Gove it would reduce reliance on Russia and cut emissions when coal is shipped from abroad for British Steel.

But, speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr McDonald said British Steel "couldn't use the coal from Cumbria because it's not of the right quality".

"That leaves Tata Steel and they said they can use a small amount of the coal," he said.

"Tata Steel have said they don't buy Russian coal anyway."

Mr McDonald said the steel industry was looking at new ways to decarbonise and metallurgical coal still produced carbon dioxide went burnt.

"All of the major steel companies in Europe are developing new technology," he said.