British Steel said Thursday that it is planning to close its two blast furnaces and steelmaking operations in the northern England town of Scunthorpe, after its Chinese owner Jingye failed to agree a rescue package with the UK government. Unions called on the government to help secure the future of the company, which Jingye said is suffering daily losses of around 700,000 pounds (USD 900,000) despite the Chinese firm investing more than 1.2 billion to maintain operations since its takeover of British Steel in 2020.