BRITISH steel industry remains uncompetitive with no policy changes: panel of experts
The UK steel sector will remain uncompetitive without improved government policies to protect it ahead of changes aimed at maintaining quotas in other regions, panelists at the recent Make UK conference in London, attended by Callanish, said.
Peter Quinn, Director of Sustainability and Environmental Protection at Tata Steel UK, told the audience that the UK must be prepared for the "edge of the abyss" that will come on July 1, when the new EU quota and tariff regime comes into force."We want to at least preserve what we have now," he said.
.Gareth Stace, CEO of UK Steel, also warned of the damage that could be inflicted on the industry "if this government, because now or never, does not do something really important and meaningful to change the fate of our sector." If nothing is done, then "in the next few years it will be a completely, completely different sector."
He also noted that problems related to energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as procurement, still need to be addressed, and if the government does not solve them, "we are still at an impasse." However, the new EU tariff quota regime "negates everything else."
If the UK government does not respond and "does not provide us with really good, reliable and effective quotas for steel in the UK and guarantees from July 1 and does not solve the problem of uncompetitive business, then we will not be the sector that even you know about at the moment," he warned.
Carles Rovira, executive director of 7 Steel, said that "there is no reason why steel production in the UK cannot be competitive," noting that the country will use the latest technology, electric arc furnaces, qualified specialists and scrap metal.
"We are asking[from]the government to provide us with the same funds as other steel producers so that they can compete," he said. He noted that 48 countries have barriers to the sale of scrap, which reduces the cost of materials within the country. He argued that other countries that receive energy subsidies should not be considered "competitive."
Meanwhile, Alasdair MacDiarmid, assistant secretary general of the Civic Union, said: "We need to stop rushing from crisis to crisis. We are in a desperate situation[and]. It seems like we've been in a stalemate for a very long time; we need to fix this once and for all."
He expressed disappointment that he still needed the same support as when the Steel Board was established in 2015 after the collapse of the SSI steel mill. "We have determined what is