EUROMETAL highlights steel industry challenges in Davis Index interview
In a recent interview with Davis Index, published on June 23, 2025 in their Metals Global edition, Alexander Julius, President of EUROMETAL, sheds light on the key challenges facing the European steel and metals sector.
As the industry confronts pressures from the green transition, regulatory burdens, and unfair trade practices, EUROMETAL continues to advocate for free and fair trade, robust supply chains, and the strategic role of distributors and service centers in a sustainable industrial future.
From the implementation of CBAM, ETS, and CSRD to innovation, traceability, and geopolitical disruptions, the interview outlines EUROMETAL’s proactive approach to defending the competitiveness and resilience of Europe’s steel value chain.
Read the full interview on Davis Index – Metals Global (23 June 2025)
LESS appoints Carmen Ostwald as secretary general
Brussels-based organisation LESS (Low-Emission Steel Standard) has announced the appointment of Carmen Ostwald as its new secretary general, Kallanish notes.
Ostwald succeeds Martin Theuringer. “At the German Steel Association, we have worked tirelessly with our member companies over the past few years to get the Low Emission Steel Standard off the ground,” Theuringer says. “Carmen Ostwald is exactly the right person for this task, and I wish her every success and all the best.”
In a press release, LESS says that Ostwald has extensive experience in the European steel industry and a strong professional network, without providing details of her professional biography. She previously worked at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe for 17 years, most recently as head of business development of the steelmaker’s low-emission bluemint Steel range.
“I am committed to strengthening the recognition of LESS among steel producers, consumer sectors, and policymakers. Together, we will lay the foundation for lead markets for low-emission steel,” Ostwald says.
Christian Koehl Germany
Industrial Strategy energy changes a ‘game-changer’, says PwC
PwC has welcomed the UK’s newly released Industrial Strategy which will see measures introduced to reduce energy costs for manufacturers, Kallanish learns from a note.
Cara Haffey, manufacturing leader at PwC, says the changes announced are a “game-changer for manufacturers across the country”, noting the extremely high energy costs domestic producers face.
Changes include increasing network charging compensation to 90% and the continuation of the indirect compensation scheme, as well as certain exemptions for energy-intensive businesses such as steel.
In the same note, Vicky Parker, energy, utilities and resources leader at PwC, highlights the announcement as timely, given that “energy will continue to be heavily influenced by geopolitical events and an increasingly complex global economic landscape”.
“By addressing two of the most pressing challenges – high electricity prices and prolonged grid connection waits – this initiative demonstrates a strong commitment to fostering an environment where businesses can have the support to grow and compete internationally,” she notes.
Policymakers will “no doubt be watching ongoing geopolitical events, particularly in relation to oil prices, with the Brent price rising to a five-month high over the weekend, having now stabilised,” Parker adds.
“If prices were to spike considerably, this would raise questions over the overall policy affordability and reignite the ongoing debate as to how to ensure the UK manages its exposure to ongoing volatility in energy costs,” she continues.
Meanwhile, Matt Alabaster, partner at PwC, notes “chronic underinvestment” as the root cause for the country’s “stagnating productivity and sluggish wage growth”, highlighting a £2 trillion investment deficit compared to other G7 countries.
“A long-term industrial strategy, backed by business and delivered consistently by government, is a vital first step. But let’s be clear: the money won’t come from down the back of the UK’s sofa. Government capital spending, while welcome, only scratches the surface – its annual increase covers just 67 days of the levels of investment the UK has lost,” he concludes.
Carrie Bone UK
UK steel safeguards to be further tightened
The UK is to further tighten its steel safeguards beyond those recommended by the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) following a recent decision by Secretary of State, Jonathan Reynolds, Kallanish learns.
It is understood that in a letter to TRA chair Nick Baird, Reynolds noted that in his intended decision, the government is to limit the liberalisation of the existing steel import quotas to 0.1%.
The recommendations were released back in May.
There will also be a cap implemented on residual quotas which will prevent individual countries from dominating the quota. This includes a 15% cap in the residual quota of category 4 (metallic coated sheet) and a 20% cap in the residual quotas of categories 7 (non-alloy and other alloy quarto plates) and 13 (rebar), effective from 1 July.
Additionally, unused quarterly quotas will no longer be made available in the following quarter.
Industry association UK Steel previously made these recommendations after it applied for a review.
UK Steel says the move will be crucial to diminishing the injury that will be caused to domestic steelmakers by steel being redirected away from the US market in light of President Trump’s steel import tariffs.
UK Steel director general Gareth Stace notes: “We now need to back the tightened safeguards up with a comprehensive new trade defence mechanism. This will help to develop the positive business environment our country craves and encourage private investors to enter the sector, ensuring we not only survive but thrive. The new mechanism, to replace the safeguards before they expire, should be introduced in January.”
The association adds that the forthcoming Trade Strategy has the potential to deliver new legislation that will equip government with the tools it needs to defend companies from the subsidised steel that is currently flooding steel markets at unsustainable price levels.
Carrie Bone UK
European HRC prices keep falling
Prices for hot-rolled coil continued to weaken across Europe, pressured by modest demand and competitive import offers.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was €575.71 ($668.20) per tonne on on Tuesday June 24, down by €4.52 per tonne from €580.23 per tonne on Monday June 23.
Sources reported estimates of workable prices largely within the range of €570-590 per tonne ex-works.
A sell-side source said €570 per tonne ex-works was a red line for many mills in the region, and he did not expect much room for further decreases below that level.
However, a trader noted that one key supplier showed readiness to accept €560 per tonne ex-works, though this was not widely confirmed by the time of publication.
The first source also said that buying in the region had been mostly hand-to-mouth over the past six weeks.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €548.33 per tonne on Tuesday, down from €556.00 per tonne ex-works on Monday.
Most recent sales were heard at the level of €550 per tonne ex-works, but a second sell-side source reported €540 per tonne ex-works as minimum workable level.
“Offers do not exist anymore. This type of negotiation almost does not exist at the moment. If you need to sell, you wait for customers’ price idea and then try to raise the price somewhat,” the second sell-side source added.
HRC offers from Indonesia came at €470-480 per tonne ex-works.
Coils from Turkey were available at €530 per tonne CFR duty paid, although some sources said that it is possible to reach €500-510 per tonne duty paid in case of large orders.
