EU once again pretends to help metallurgists

The European Commission has released another document on the protection of the iron and steel industry in the EU. However, it does not provide a solution to the problems posed by the EU itself.

Steel: Maintaining Stable Jobs and Growth in Europe highlights the importance of the steel industry to the European economy. This segment has an annual turnover of 166 billion euros, representing 1.3 percent of the EU's GDP, and provides employment for 328 thousand people, directly or indirectly.

The Commission notes that the competitive position of the European steel industry has worsened in recent years, due to a slowdown in economic growth in developing countries, especially in China, where steel overproduction is currently 350 million tons, which is about double the total production EU. This contributes to an increase in exports of cheap steel from China to the EU and to a fall in prices for some steel products in Europe by up to 40 percent.

The Commission believes that if overproduction is a global problem, then it needs to be addressed globally. This means bilateral and multilateral negotiations with such foreign partners: China, Japan, India, Russia, Turkey and the United States, as well as in the WTO and the G20. The EU protects its business with anti-dumping duties. Currently, 10 cases are pending, of which 6 are transactions with China, but the proceedings are too long, and the imposed obligations are too low. In general, the effect is small and highly delayed. Since the EU countries are unable to get along and negotiate among themselves, anti-dumping duties are much lower than the level that the US administration can afford - 260 percent for some Chinese manufacturers!

Knowing this, the Commission calls for improvements in some aspects of EU steel production, mainly in terms of technology. The Commission does not understand that the success of a few percent efficiency gains in steel production and processing will not be able to compensate even marginally for the drop in prices.