‘Very damaging’: how the Iran war is hitting energy-intensive industries

Conflict pushes companies struggling with rising costs in sectors such as steel and chemicals to the edge

In its 160-year history, Somers Forge’s furnaces in the Black Country have cast steel columns for the Bank of England, part of the anchor for the Titanic and – more recently – propeller shafts for Britain’s nuclear submarines.

The economic fallout from the Iran conflict is the latest of many geopolitical headaches the family-owned forge has endured, but it is already “very damaging”, said Tammy Inglis, the Somers finance director.