The European Parliament expressed concern for the European steel industry due to unfair competition from China and rising energy costs during an Oct. 23 plenary debate on tackling the steel crisis.
Speakers emphasized the need for a comprehensive steel action plan to ensure the industry's viability and called for immediate action to safeguard the future of Europe's steel sector, while addressing environmental concerns and maintaining competitiveness.
European Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli opened the debate by saying a strong and low-carbon steel industry was key for Europe and its industries.
"While Europe remains a key player in the global steel landscape, today's debate shows our collective concern about the status of the EU steel industry," she said.
Dalli noted that Europe's industrial output of steel has decreased 20% over the past decade, switching from a trade surplus to a deficit of about 10 million mt, with Europe currently accounting for only 7% of global steel production.
"We must reverse that trend," Dalli said. "To do this, we need large investments into new clean steel projects. Clean steel should be the focus to allow Europe to regain a competitive edge in the global steel landscape in the years to come, and we need to support these investments internally."
Dalli called for competitively priced electricity, and said the EU had to watch out for cheap imports resulting from growing global subsidized overcapacity, which pressured prices and distorted trade.
She said a reinforced industrial approach was needed, as well as increased investments and supporting the business case for low carbon steel in Europe.
"Since 1990 the steel industry has reduced its emissions by 26%, therefore, a transition pathway is possible," she said. "Today, the technologies to decarbonize steel production exist and they are being deployed in Europe. Out of 80 clean steel projects worldwide, 55 of them are here in Europe."
High Chinese production
During the debate, a number of EP members mentioned China, which produces more than half of the global steel output.
"China is flooding the world with high emission steel, which is heavily subsidized, and it produces far more than it consumes," Raphael Glucksmann of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats said.
Juan Ignacio Ziodo Alvarez from the European People's Party, the Christian Democrats, said China had increased its steel production by more than 600% in the past 20 years and was continuing to expand, with production due to expand further by 2026 by around five times the total production of Europe.
"If we want our sector to survive in Europe, we need urgent measures," Alvarez said.
Letizia Moratti of the Christian Democrats said low-cost steel from China and Indonesia were risking jobs, income and the environment.
"We haven't reduced our emissions, we've just moved them, so we need urgent measures to reduce the cost of energy, which is a weight on the sector," she said, calling for more antidumping measures against unfair competition and better use of resources.
"Steel is hugely recyclable, and it is strategic as a material for our circular economy and our industry - we have to make it more available, but we are exporting it towards countries with lower standards," Moratti said.
Tom Berendsen from the Christian Democrats said the European steel industry was disappearing for three reasons -- namely China's overcapacity and this surplus being sold cheaply, high energy prices in Europe that were two to three times higher than in the US and China, and the need for the steel industry to become clean, which required high investment.
Steel action plan
The Christian Democrats' Christian Ehler called for the steel action plan and "real measures," such as reducing imported steel and applying safeguard clauses, as well as more country-specific quotas, antidumping and anti-subsidy processes.
"We need to find a business case for steel industry in Europe, the access to cheap energy, for instance, through an expansion of the electricity network," Ehler said. "But also... we need to get hydrogen energy."
Ehler added the task needed to be dealt with jointly, as it could not be solved by a few small internal measures.
Rudi Kennes from the Left group said the EU needed to ensure stable energy supplies.
"This is crucial for the future of our industry and for our industrial transition," Kennes said. "This is why a massive public investment is necessary."
Kennes called for energy companies to reinvest their profits into society.
The Greens/European Free Alliance's Sara Matthieu called for a Clean Industrial Deal, which would unleash an investment agenda in green technologies of the future. She said this would solve the bottlenecks for affordable renewable energy, create demand for European low carbon products and ensure a level playing field for European manufacturers.
Renew Europe's Christophe Grudler called on the European Commission to adopt strong measures, including emergency measures to avoid the steel industry from crashing and new safeguard measures that were reactive and would provide a deterrent to dumping.
"We wish to see the implementation of a carbon border tax quickly so as to avoid any diversion," Grudler added.
Dalli closed the debate by saying the EC and Parliament had the common goal of ensuring the EU remained home to a thriving and sustainable steel industry.
"The solution is not less green deal but an industrial deal that helps industry decarbonize while growing and ensuring a just transition, leaving no one and no territory behind," Dalli said. "The Commission looks forward to working with the European Parliament as a matter of priority."
Source: Platts