According to UK Steel CEO Gareth Stace, the UK steel sector still needs some imports, despite the planned reduction in quotas.
He told the Green Steel Challenge podcast, co-produced by Kallanish, that unlike the EU, the UK still needs import tonnages.
"The EU could be self-sufficient… But in the UK we need imports," he added
He described 30% of UK demand being met domestically as "unsustainable", which would not attract investment, compared with 80% in the US and 75% in the EU.
"However, both of these steel sectors, economies and governments are taking very strict and very important trade protection measures to protect their industries," he added.
He also stressed that a third of UK government steel purchases are made from abroad.
Stace noted that steel production in China and other Far Eastern countries is "heavily subsidized by their governments" and therefore can be exported at any price, which undermines prices in other countries. Other manufacturers cannot compete with this, no matter how competitive they may be.
"You will never be able to compete with steel, which is 70-80% state-owned, 100% state-controlled and fully subsidized by the government," he added.
He also expressed concern about the reduction of EU quotas, as 80% of British exports go to the region, which could lead to job losses if no agreement is reached between the two economies.
"I think we should allow a large volume of imports from the EU, and the EU should allow a large volume of exports from the UK to the EU market," he said. "I hope that we will be able to work with economies like ours that do not want steel to be thrown into landfills, subsidized, undermine our market and stop investments."
He expects a rapid increase in the share of domestic producers in the market after the introduction of new quotas starting on July 1, taking into account the government's desire to reach 50% of domestic consumption is satisfied by British-made materials. "I would like to think that within one year, two years, hopefully," he added.
However, he noted that the British had begun to lose market share in the construction steel segments of profiles and beams due to "short-sighted" emissions requirements. "Architects emphasize that they need eco-friendly steel, and they see eco-friendly steel as steel for electric arc furnaces," he said.
Stace also noted that the Welsh government uses steel for electric arc
