Catalogue description Records of the Iron and Steel Division

The Iron and Steel Division transferred from the first Department of Trade and Industry to the Department of Industry when it was formed in 1974. It continued until 1982 when its work on iron and steel was transferred to a new Mineral and Metals Division. At the same time the Division also took responsibility for minerals and metals from the Paper, Timber, Minerals and Miscellaneous Manufactures Division. Following the privatisation of the British Steel Corporation in 1988 there was a departmental reorganisation and the Division's responsibilities relating to metals and minerals were transferred to the new Industrial Materials Market Division.

The main responsibility of the Iron and Steel Division was the department's relationship with British Steel Corporation, in particular the Corporation's corporate strategy, plans, investment and finances, pay and labour relations and closures. It was also concerned with steel supplies, raw materials, international steel questions including European Coal and Steel Community matters, private steel sector and sponsorship and takeovers, iron and steel technology and the ferrous foundry industry scheme.