The Italian association of steel traders and distributors Assofermet has expressed its disappointment with the new European Steel and Metals Action Plan presented by the European Commission, in a press release published on March 19.
Despite its numerous protectionist policies, the European Union has lost 10 percent of its domestic steel production in the last decade due to global overcapacity. Assofermet said it believes that this new action plan, as outlined, is incomplete and too focused on production. It does not contain, for instance, stimulus measures “aiming to increase [steel] demand in the internal market, revive EU [steel] production and the entire steel supply chain,” Assofermet noted.
Without a decisive action, EU steel production is set to decline in terms of output, undermining the decarbonization progress achieved so far, the association stated, adding, “The tariff war, triggered by the protectionist policies of the USA, will put EU exports of steel and aluminum, as well as of manufactured goods, equipment, and derived machinery, in great difficulty, which will lead, as envisaged in the plan, to a further tightening of EU trade defense measures on imports, with a clear negative impact on European GDP.”
Assofermet said it also hopes for an implementation of energy cost reductions and that the plan will finally be corrected and revised with sharper measures aimed at reviving domestic steel demand.