EUROMETAL letter to EU Commissioner Mr Phil Hogan

Dear Mr Hogan,

As it is of your knowledge, EUROMETAL is an association of distributors and steel service centres across Europe, our members are the national federations, or companies that work in the downstream steel activities. EUROMETAL is in full favour of fair trade, against artificial state support for companies, and we believe on the free competition as the vector that drives the best return for the society.

During these last years, especially these last quarters, we have seen many new regulations being issued by the European Commission (EC) regarding trade constraints against most imports of different steel products. We are very much aware that this is a well-known topic to you and your team. We understand the circumstances and the findings that took the EC to conclude with tariffs and trade restrictions in some of the cases. However, we are of the belief that there is a point in which we consider we should rise our voice to be heard.

We do not question that an industry that has such strategical weight as the steel production needs to be taken into consideration. But to our view, the EC should also be caring about the steel users and steel consuming industries. There will be no market for the steel production if there is not a market of consumers.

Among all these steel users and consumers there is a myriad of small and medium size companies that do not have the means to demand their particular issues to be resolved by the EC and your department, they have made their life and future based on the day-to-day competition, many times against big corporations that could enforce their power in the market to the very limits.

We trust in you to take into consideration the interests of all the steel users and distributors in order to protect the future of this industry, and to help us to secure a future for the communities we work at and for. Protecting the steel producers, even if needed in many aspects, is not the only way to defend the interests of all the Europeans. Only with a strong sector of steel end users and consumers can we consolidate the industry we need to look with hope to the future. We offer you our support to find a way forward.

Daniel Guinabert (Director General)                                   

Fernando Espada (President)