UK Steel and Tata Steel are seeking further improvements to the newly published EU import quotas, Kallanish learns from their respective statements.
The producers’ association says it recognises the progress made by the UK government but adds that negotiations must continue between the UK and EU for further improvement in volumes as the two regions continue their reset talks. 70% of UK steel exports go to the bloc, making it a crucial market.
The UK’s country specific EU quotas amount to 1 million tonnes, while access to Free Trade Agreement pools and residuals takes the total UK access for tariff-free steel exports to 2.14mt. UK Steel warns these pools are likely to be quickly filled by countries with larger production, with the UK “likely” to lose a significant chunk of the 1.7mt of finished steel it exported to the EU under the previous safeguards.
It blames overproduction on “rampant global subsidisation” which has distorted international market prices, and forced the two regions to significantly restrict import access.
“Unfortunately, broad trade measures have unintended consequences and outdated multilateral trading rules make it difficult to single out bad actors who distort the market for all,” it adds.
UK Steel director-general Gareth Stace says: “Securing wider export access for certain high value steel products will be critical for the long-term viability and profitability of the UK steel sector. The UK and EU are interdependent markets, and we hope both sides will take a reasonable view of each other’s needs as discussions take place over the coming months.”
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Rajesh Nair, chief executive of Tata Steel UK, says: “While we recognise the UK Government’s efforts in these negotiations, the overall reduction of 60% in guaranteed tariff-free EU quotas, combined with the recent UK steel import measures, is likely to have a significant impact on our UK business.”
“We will need some time to analyse the specific details of the announcement with respect to different product categories, but given the importance of the EU market to British steel producers, fair and workable market access remains critical if we are to achieve a sustainable steel industry here in the UK,” he adds.
Last week, Tata said it was disappointed in the UK’s import quotas and expressed concerns on allowances for metallic coated steels (Category 4), packaging steels (Category 6) and hollow sections (Category 21).
Author: Carrie Bone
