Steel For Europe

Steel Security

Steel needs to be recognized as a crucial element for the development of the European Union and its sustainable future.

Just as with energy and energy security, it is of the utmost importance to secure a reliable, sustainable, fulfilling all legal and ethical norms supply chain to ensure the global level playing field.
The steel industry has an enormous impact on the economy’s key segments – automotive (EV), defense, aviation & space, energy (renewables), sustainable construction, rolling stock etc. - all crucial for the development of the EU. It is the cornerstone of our economic and social development.

Steel is indispensable in the development of an innovative low-emission economy — it is the most versatile and sustainable industrial material in the world. Steel is infinitely recyclable and therefore fundamental for the circular economy and the future of the EU.

Challenges up ahead…

The transformation of the European economy and society towards a low-emission model will result in an increasing demand for environmentally friendly products, such as electric vehicles or wind turbines in the upcoming years.

Therefore, the demand for steel will also increase, however, there is a series of challenges up ahead:

  • In the first half of 2019, production of the EU steel industry employing 330 thousand people (2.2 million people work in cooperating companies), decreased by 2.5 percent compared to the first half of 2018.
  • Although at that time almost all over the world, steel production increased by 4.6 percent, in India by 4 percent, and in China, which is the main producer in the world (accounting for the half of total global production) 10 percent.
  • The same is expected in 2019 – global steel production is likely to increase, but in the EU it will decrease (as in 2018). At the same time, imports of steel from outside the European Union are growing rapidly in EU countries – from Asia, Russia or Ukraine. Last year, imports increased by 12%, which meant an increase in its share in the EU market at the expense of EU producers.
  • The effect is that steel production is limited in many EU countries. In the first half of 2019, it fell by 5.8 per cent in Germany, by 2.5 per cent in Italy, and by 8 per cent in Poland. However, production in France increased (by 3.4 percent) and in Spain (by 2.3 percent).
  • The EU based steel industry has also experienced additional challenges reducing its international competitiveness such as almost fivefold increase in the price of the CO2 European Emission Allowances (from around EUR 5 per tonne in 2017 up to almost EUR 25 per tonne currently). Moreover, the price of EU ETS permits is projected to furtherly increase up to EUR 43 per tonne until 2030.
  • The rising price of carbon allowances has also contributed to the overall increase in price of energy, which makes energy-intensive steel production less profitable and competitive compared with steel produced outside EU.