Indian-owned Tata have confirmed the loss of 1,170 jobs at its UK operations, bringing steelmaking in Scotland to an end after 143 years.
The brunt of the cuts will be borne in Scunthorpe, where 900 posts will go.
The rest of the redundancies will be at its plants in Dalzell and Clydebridge in Scotland.
The news comes the day after it was confirmed 1,700 jobs were in jeopardy at UK-based Caparo Industries, which is owned by Labour peer Lord Paul.
And it follows the announcement that SSI in Redcar, Teesside, is to be closed with the loss of 2,200 jobs.
Tata has said the cuts are partly due to a "flood" of cheap imports, especially from China, as well as a strong pound and high electricity prices.
Speaking to Sky News earlier about whether the Prime Minister would raise the steel issue with Chinese president Xi Jinping, Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond said: "It’s certainly one of the subjects that will be on the agenda, the steel industry. China is a very big producer of steel, as you would expect.
"But there’s a global over-capacity in the steel industry and that’s caused prices to fall very precipitately over the last 12 months or so, and that’s causing a problem around the world.
"The EU has imposed tariffs on Chinese steel to ensure that the price of Chinese steel reaching consumers here is fair, but there is a problem in this industry."
Meanwhile, former shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna took to Twitter: "The Government's handling of the steel industry crisis is a lesson in industrial inactivism - a complete lack of commitment. Disgraceful."
Earlier this week China bailed out one of its own state-owned commodity miners, Sinosteel, which is facing a cash crisis of its own and is struggling to repay its debts.
Due to overcapacity in the Chinese market the price of steel has fallen by 40% from around £318 a ton to under £191 in the past year, meaning that domestic UK firms are no longer able to compete.
These lower prices - twinned with a rebound in economic activity in the UK - have pushed up demand for Chinese steel.
Imports are up 23% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2015 and up 129% compared to this period in 2013.
On Monday, China announced its lowest nominal growth rate since 1999 which helped to push Shanghai steel futures to an all-time low suggestingTa that the recent price falls show little signs of reversing.
(Sky News)
