Crunch time for ailing steel sector

Business leaders and government ministers gathered for a high-level summit to discuss potential solutions to the steel crisis with the European Commission.

The UK steel industry has seen 5,000 job losses in the past year, and campaigners say the gloom is now spreading to steel makers across Europe.

The campaigners hope to persuade EU ministers to raise trade tariffs to reduce the dumping of steel, and prevent the EU from granting Market Economy Status to China.

To support their efforts, thousands of steel industry workers travelled to Brussels on Monday to take part in a march organised by European steel alliance, AEGIS Europe.

Tata Steel employees were joined by the company’s European chief executive Karl Koehler, who said that huge global overcapacity and unfair trade practices – mainly by China and Russia – had pushed steel prices to historically low levels.

“Together with our peers in the steel industry we told European leaders loud and clear to stop the tide of unfairly-traded material that threatens our jobs, our industry and our future,” said Koehler.


“The dumping of steel below its cost of production will continue as long as our regional, national and European leaders fail to introduce trade defence protections quickly and effectively. Measures so far have been slow and half-hearted.”

The European Union’s Emissions Trading System makes it increasingly expensive to produce steel in Europe, added Koehler, but does not stop those who produce it elsewhere at lower environmental standards and then import it into Europe.

“The tragic result of such rules is to import CO2 and export jobs. This must change and it must change fast: fair competition means playing by the same rules,” he said.

Gareth Stace, director of UK Steel, who also joined the march on Monday said: “I cannot remember an occasion where company bosses have joined unions and employees to march on the European Union’s offices and demand more action. It highlights the sheer scale of the problems we face, with the UK at the eye of the storm.

“The UK and the European Union cannot remain passive when rising job losses and steelwork closures show that there is a significant and impending risk of collapse in the European steel sector.”

Jyrki Katainen, European Commission vice-president with responsibility for jobs and investment, said in his opening comments at the summit that the Commission was willing to use all existing instruments to support the steel industry.

“The Commission intends to continue to make full use of existing Trade Defence Instruments against unfair trade practices, ensuring a global level playing field," he said.

"Looking at highly-intensive energy industries and in particular steel, the Commission has put in place 35 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures as well as a number of new investigations ongoing.”

He said three new investigations had been launched in the last few days.

UK Steel, however, is campaigning for faster action by the EC in response to the crisis, citing the following areas as key priorities.