Europe must stop importing cheap Chinese steel, says Slovak producer

The crisis in the European steel industry is persisting even after the European Commission introduced its Steel Action Plan in 2013, said U.S. Steel Košice vice-president for external relations, business management and development Miroslav Kiraľvarga on Monday. Kiraľvarga, a member of Slovakia's delegation to an extraordinary meeting of the Council of the European Union that took place on Monday (November 9), said that this crisis persists also because there is a surfeit of competitive products coming to Europe from eastern countries. "We're speaking mainly of China which doubled its production capacity at home. Its demand has decreased and it's looking for markets to export to. And it has found those countries in the EU. Chinese exports of steel to the EU have doubled since 2013", explained Kiraľvarga. The prices for Chinese steel are far lower than their production costs. "Therefore we think there's need for the EU to come up with a radical solution as soon as possible. In England 3,000 people have lost their jobs and there are still more and more European steel plants that ponder the decrease of production, thereby the decrease of employment rate", warned Kiraľvarga. The EU economy ministers met in Brussels on Monday to look for effective protection of the European steel industry against so-called dumping. Kiraľvarga conceded that this crisis also concerns Slovakia because U.S. Steel has to optimise its production in view of the low prices of Chinese steel. "So far we've been able to maintain the employment rate", said Kiraľvarga, adding that it depends on how the situation will evolve. According to Kiraľvarga, it would be most effective to immediately stop or at least limit the influx of Chinese steel to the EU markets. From a long-term point of view, the European steel industry must focus on energy expenditures because the prices of energy are, for instance, twice as high in Slovakia as in the USA. They also need to focus on environmental projects. He stated that China is also capable of producing steel products at a level of quality required by European markets. "Their capacity is estimated somewhere between 200 and 500 million tonnes. There is the required quality but at lowered prices", concluded Kiraľvarga.