The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has stated that the EU-US Summit planned for October 20 should pave the way for a global solution to tackle challenges of excess capacity and carbon intensity that the global steel industry is facing. The association urges that only a strong, international binding agreement can adequately respond to a new global context where carbon-intensive excess capacity has reached 600 million mt.
“We expect to have an interim agreement outlining an ambitious framework that will provide clear guidance and include the substantive elements of the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum (GASSA),” Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER, said.
The excess capacity that surpasses 600 million mt is mainly found in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, new capacity expansions are primarily focused on very carbon-intensive, traditional coal-based furnaces. Another 150 million mt of steel capacity are set to become operational by 2026, while global steel demand is expected to remain weak. This new capacity alone will result in more carbon emissions than the entire EU steel industry combined, erasing all of the EU steel industry’s emission reduction efforts up to 2050 in just three years.
