British steel plants under ever-increasing pressure from competition from China

British steel plants are facing ever-increasing pressure from competitors in China, as the booming foreign industry floods the market with massive amounts of cheaper product.

Last year, UK total steel production was 12 million tonnes - whereas in China, factories produced 96m for export alone.

ITV News China correspondent Lucy Watson was given permission to film in China's largest private steel company, near Shanghai, to see what British firms are up against.

Video report by Lucy Watson:

In the past decade, the Chinese have almost doubled their grip on the market.

From producing 25.6 per cent of the world's steel in 2005, they now produce nearly half, at 49.4 per cent.

Whereas there are £30,000 people employed in the steel industry in Britain, that number is employed at Shagang steel company alone.

One worker told ITV News that world-leading technology and automation equipment is part of what makes China so powerful - as well as the determined work ethic of its workforce.

Producing a vast amount more steel than Britain, and at prices which undercut steel from closer to home, China has a stranglehold on this industry, making it almost impossible for the UK to keep the light burning.