Competitiveness Council calls emergency meeting to address steel industry challenges

Minister for the economy Chris Cardona attended an emergency Competitiveness Council meeting aimed at addressing the challenges currently being faced by the European Steel sector in terms of growth, jobs, and global competitiveness.

The extraordinary meeting was convened with urgency following the loss of 3,300 jobs in the past month in the United Kingdom alone, resulting from the closure of several plants in recent weeks. Due to the current situation in the sector, other plants and many other jobs are at serious risk.

The EU is the second largest producer of steel in the world, after China. Its output is over 177 million tonnes of steel a year, accounting for 11% of global output and a turnover of around €180 billion, underpinning numerous other industrial sectors such as the car industry, construction, electronics, and mechanical and electrical engineering.

The industry has a strong European dimension: there are about 500 production sites in the EU, spread out among 23 member states. 

During the meeting it was stated that this is not an issue that just affects the United Kingdom but also threatens the whole of the European steel industry, including the steel sectors in France, Spain and Germany.

Although steel is an important input in the production processes of a number of manufacturing firms and construction activities, there are only a handful of companies that could potentially be impacted in Malta.

The latest EU strategy document addressing the competitiveness of the steel sector is the Action Plan adopted by the Commission in 2013. Malta noted that this Action Plan has not been effective and requires immediate review to address the seriousness of the current crisis which it has not prevented from taking place. “The review must recognise the new realities being faced by the Steel Industry as a whole today,” stated Cardona during the meeting.

The economic crisis and the rise in the cost of raw materials as well as energy has resulted in a precarious situation for the steel industry across the EU. Fierce competition from non-EU country producers such as China and Russia is also a factor.

During the Council meeting the Commission also briefed ministers on the latest developments as regards the upcoming legislation on new test procedures to measure real driving emissions (RDE) from cars.