Boris Johnson says the government is in "daily contact" with Liberty Steel
The company has a plant in Scunthorpe
Boris Johnson has said he is "very hopeful" a solution can be found to save Liberty Steel as the firm's owner insisted none of its plants would be shut "under my watch''.
Sanjeev Gupta has been urgently seeking to refinance its operations following the collapse of its main financial backer, Greensill Capital, threatening an estimated 5,000 jobs in the UK.
The Government has previously rejected an appeal by Liberty's parent company, GFG Alliance, for a #170 million bailout amid concerns its "opaque'' structures meant the funds could disappear into its international operations.
However, the Prime Minister said Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng remained in "daily contact'' with the owners:
"I think British steel is a very important national asset. I think the fact that we make steel in this country is of strategic long-term importance,''
"We need a strong steel industry. I am very hopeful that we will get a solution.
"It would be crazy if we were not to use this post-Brexit moment to use the flexibility we have to buy British steel. So that's what we want to do.''
Earlier, Mr Gupta said he was continuing efforts to find new sources of finance as he disclosed that they owed "many billions'' to Greensill.
He insisted however that its overall global operations remained profitable and that they had had a "huge amount of interest'' from financiers who were willing to back them.
He said:
"Our overall global operations are profitable, we have refinancing offers, we will refinance and we will support our UK business also. None of my steel plants under my watch will be shut down.''
"I'm very confident that we will find short-term solutions through our own efforts and will find long-term solutions through refinancing.''