European steel association welcomes summit on steel crisis

The Brussels-based European Steel Association (EUROFER) has welcomed the news that an emergency meeting will take place in the coming days between ministers from European Union (EU) member states to discuss the ongoing challenges faced by the steel industry in Europe.

“Surging imports, price depression and job losses are intensifying across the European steel market. Pressures, notably from unfairly traded Chinese steel, are a central cause of EU steel industry distress. Driven by massive excess steel capacity—twice the size of the EU’s total steel demand—China has been dumping unprecedented volumes of steel onto international and EU markets,” says Axel Eggert, EUROFER Director General, according to a EUROFER press release.

According to EUROFER, Chinese steel exports have grown to 110 million metric tons this year, doubling its export volumes over the past two years.

“Dumped and subsidised steel from China is destroying industry margins across the globe, with players in the EU’s open market particularly vulnerable. High energy costs, sustained by a range of EU and national policies, also weigh down on the sector in Europe,” Eggert says.

Eggert emphasises, “During the financial and economic crises the sector lost over 80,000 jobs, 20 percent of its workforce. Unfortunately, our faith that the tide had begun to turn has vanished over the past quarter, during which at least a further 5,000 jobs have been lost. These losses not only destroy whole communities, but irreversibly damage the industrial fiber of the European economy. This is why this Council meeting is so timely.”

The meeting was requested by U.K. Business Secretary Sajid Javid, following a number of closures and redundancy notices in that country. EUROFER says it hopes the meeting can help to build a consensus around practical, swiftly implementable policies designed to support innovation, lower energy costs, restrain the regulatory burden and ensure that European steel producers face a level playing field in international trade.

“The European steel industry is at a crossroads,” concludes Eggert. “The steel industry is committed to Europe and to its thousands of dedicated employees.”

The association cites a need for an emergency plan with measures to re-establish fair trade for the EU steel industry, increase the speed and effectiveness of the EU’s trade defense instruments and refuse market economy status for China so long as the country fails to fulfill the EU’s criteria. EUROFER says the EU is lagging behind other regions that have taken immediate action, such as the U.S., India, Turkey and others. In addition, the EU needs to shape an energy and climate policy, in particular its EU’s emissions trading scheme, that does not create costs not borne by global competitors, EUROFER says.