The Federal Association of German Steel Recycling and Waste Management Companies (BDSV) and the Association of German Metal Traders and Recyclers (VDM) are against the proposal of the European Steel and Metals Action Plan (SMAP) to potentially restrict the export of scrap, Kallanish notes.
They point to a recently published independent study on the impact of export bans on ferrous scrap, conducted by the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences in Jena (see Kallanish passim).
It concluded that export barriers to recycled steel would distort markets, trigger retaliatory measures, and undermine Europe’s security of supply – without strengthening the EU steel sector. Such measures would undermine both the European steel industry and global climate protection efforts, it noted.
Since scrap trade is very sensitive to cost changes, trade barriers can lead to a shift in trade flows away from Europe. Export barriers pose trade policy risks, including retaliation, the risk of restricting access to high-quality imports and reducing global scrap use, BDSV and VDM conclude,
The study finds that EU policy should address structural challenges such as high energy costs, while accelerating sorting and pre-sorting, standardising quality and certification, and supporting investments that improve the quality of recycled steel and stimulate market demand.
“This document confirms what recycling companies have long been saying: export restrictions on recycled steel are the wrong tool,” says European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) secretary general Julia Ettinger. “The EU should focus on real solutions – reducing energy costs and investing in high-quality recycling – instead of turning to protectionism.”
“The European recycling industry is globally competitive,” says BDSV managing director Guido Lipinski. “Export restrictions would harm this competitiveness, while diverting non-European trade flows would have no positive impact on the supply of European consumers, which is not at risk.”
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
