IT IS surely fair to say that last week’s visit of the Chinese president Xi Jinping was unfortunately timed for the UK Government.

He arrived at Heathrow Airport – the first time a Chinese president has touched down on British soil - just as more bad news about the steel industry was breaking.

The mooted 1,200 jobs at Tata Steel’s sites in Scunthorpe and in Scotland that were thought to be at risk were finally axed.

More locally, 24 workers in Tredegar were told they face an uncertain future after their company Caparo Industries was placed into administration. That company employs thousands of others across the country at other bases, mostly in the West Midlands.

The news didn't necessarily come out of the blue. In August Newport’s Llanwern steelworks, also owned by Tata, told an estimated 250 agency workers their labour was no longer needed when they mothballed a steel mill there.

The pricing of Chinese steel, high energy prices and falling demand are just three of the reasons which are said to have contributed to the problems faced by the UK steel industry.

University of South Wales academic and industry expert Dr Kathryn Ringwald thinks Tata have behaved responsibly in mothballing mills and waiting for the steel market to pick up.

But she said the industry is clearly in a difficult position: “I think we will be coming to the conclusion that in the UK we are unlikely to be able to compete [with China] for reasons that are quite complex. The first thing is that it is always better to develop products near to where you’re making it because it is expensive to transport.

“The market in Europe has flatlined. The British government can’t really impact the price of steel because that is determined by the market mechanism.”

The extent to which the British steel market is dwarfed by other countries’ markets is striking.

Across the UK there are 12 million tonnes of steel made at works every year. Across Europe, about 150 million tonnes are made and about the same is made in America.

China produces 800 million tonnes and its output has increased exponentially since the start of the century. It produced about 150 million tonnes in 2000 then that had doubled by 2007.

Other fierce competition comes from other large countries, such as Russia.

Dr Ringwald said it is imperative for metal to be as cheap as possible for multinationals who could take lots from suppliers.

She said: “If you are talking about white goods, those industries are very competitive. Anyone in those companies would have to look at getting the lowest possible price for the metal.”

There are exceptions. Liberty Steel in Newport, as the Argus has reported, recently reopened after mothballing and paying its 150 staff half wages while it was closed. That factory is expected to produce 50,000 metric tonnes of steel annually.

That will be celebrated by politicians all the board but will not stop the arguments of what should be done and whether or not enough action is being taken.

Last week the UK Government’s business secretary Sajid Javid told steelworkers that he would not sit and allow them to descended into a spiral of unemployment and hardship.

He told them, in a stark address which was heckled by some opposition MPs: “I know that the current situation is unbearably difficult, that you are deeply worried about your future and the future of your families. But let me assure you that this government is doing and is continuing to do everything within our power to support you in the weeks, months and years ahead.”

Newport East’s MP Jessica Morden, who had Llanwern in her constituency, attended a steel summit in Rotherham on October 16 which Mr Javid also went to. She is keen for the Government to take action.

She told the Argus: “We’ve had urgent question after urgent question to the minister calling for the Government to step in like in other countries and help save our steel industry. They must act now on energy prices, tackling Chinese imports, business rates and procurement, all the issues raised in last week’s steel summit.

“Llanwern and Orb produce some of the best steel products in the world – we need a Government that supports and celebrates our industry, not just stand aside whilst jobs, investment and innovation go elsewhere.”

Across Britain other sites are at graver risk than those Tata Steel-owned plants at Llanwern and Port Talbot seem to be.

The Redcar steelworks – at which the Sydney Harbour Bridge was produced – will be closed for the second time in six years at the expense of 1,700 jobs.

Unions have said the government’s handling has been inadequate for some time.

On Friday the GMB, repeating Ms Morden's concerns, urged “action on dumping, energy prices, business rates, market conditions, procurement and international comparisons needed for a level playing field” and said rhetoric would be of limited help.

The chairman of the Community union Roy Rickhuss said said: “The fact is that China chooses to play by different rules when it comes to steelmaking just as it applies different rules to human rights. Steelworkers know this and that’s why it makes them sick to see state banquets for Chinese dignitaries when their jobs are under threat.

“When it comes to saving the UK steel industry, the views of the Chinese government are inconsequential. At the moment, the UK doesn’t even operate on a level playing field within Europe, let alone when compared with the Chinese. So what matters is what the UK government plans to do. Of course that means action to stop dumping of Chinese steel.”

Whichever angle you look at the problems with steel across the UK, problems seem to be multiplying quickly.

As the Welsh Government’s economy minister Edwina Hart said in the Senedd action must be taken or “we won’t have an industry to be talking about.

“It would be rather like coal mining in Wales, wouldn’t it? You know, it went and it has never come back. That’ll be steel. So it’ll all be in the history books and I certainly don’t want the steel industry in the history books because then what does happen to manufacturing? That, for me, is a really serious issue.”