Tata Steel Netherlands Holding BV executive chairman Henrik Adam emphasised the urgent need for Europe to reverse the ongoing trend of de-industrialisation at EUROMETAL’s 75th Anniversary conference in Luxembourg last week, attended by Kallanish.
Advancing technological innovation is critical to sustaining and revitalising the European industrial base. “In Europe we are surviving against global competition from low-cost subsidised countries … We are not asking for protection, we are asking for a fair playing field,” Adams stated.
He highlighted the severity of the European steel crisis, with 26 million tonnes of steel capacity closing between 2008 and 2023, and the loss of 25% of its steel workforce, with an additional 18,000 job cuts announced in 2024.
To remain competitive, Europe must strengthen trade defences against unfair practices, review and update the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), address high energy costs, and improve scrap availability.
Access to abundant fossil-free electricity is essential. Energy demand in the steel sector, which averaged 75 TWh/year between 2010 and 2020, is forecast to more than double to 165 TWh by 2030 and reach 400 TWh by 2050.
Lowering energy costs, increasing green subsidies, and robust trade protection are critical. Without effective measures, de-industrialisation will accelerate, Adams warned. However, he noted a clear political commitment at the European level to preserve the industry.
Global excess steel capacity is both structural and significant. Europe must prevent “CO2 free riding” through resource shuffling and circumvention, safeguard European steel exports, and avoid the relocation of downstream companies. New steel capacities being added in countries like India and China over the next decade could undermine Europe’s climate efforts, Adam concluded.
Natalia Capra France
