The Czech steel industry is at a crossroads, with leaders warning of an existential threat to the sector’s survival. The Council of Economic and Social Agreement of the Moravian-Silesian Region (Tripartite) has lately held its plenary meeting at its regional office to address the deepening crisis in Czech steelmaking. At the meeting, representatives of steelmakers, unions, and regional authorities joined forces to call on the government and EU institutions to urgently protect domestic steel production against rising energy prices, burdensome EU climate targets, and a surge of cheap imports.
Open letter to political parties
Unions, led by OS KOVO, issued an open letter to political parties and the future Czech government. The letter expresses fundamental disagreement with the current national and EU industrial strategies, arguing they undermine the competitiveness and survival of European steel. Roman Ďurčo, chairman of the KOVO trade union, emphasized that, without state support, Czech steel companies cannot manage the transition to low-emission technologies on their own.
Ten-point rescue plan
The Steel Union, OS KOVO, and the Tripartite unveiled a program titled “Ten Points to Save Czech Steel”, urging immediate action:
- Ensuring physically and affordable electricity
- Adjustment of the EU ETS emission allowance system
- Restricting scrap exports and promoting a circular economy
- Protecting the European market from unfair competition
- Available financing for decarbonization projects
- Employment protection and support for technical education
- Creating a market for green steel
- Reducing bureaucratic and financial burdens
- Creation of a national energy and decarbonization strategy
- Declaration of the steel industry as a strategic sector
“The metallurgical industry in Europe and its global competitiveness have recently been affected by several negative factors: high energy and emission allowance prices, low demand, systemic problems in the industry, the geopolitical situation in the world, the pressure of cheap supplies from third countries, insufficient protection of the European market amid the ever-increasing global overproduction of steel, especially from Asian countries. We are under enormous pressure. It is necessary for Třinecké Železárny, as the only steel producer in the country, to become a strategic enterprise,” Roman Heide, CEO of Czech Republic-based steelmaker Třinecké Železárny, said.