Steel roll prices in the United Kingdom have risen ahead of the announcement by the UK government of a new steel production strategy that provides for a 60% reduction in import quotas and a doubling of importers' tariffs above quotas to 50%.
A study by MEPs for its European Steel Review showed that price increases for the entire range of rolled products increased significantly after Tata Steel UK tried to bring its sales figures in line with those of manufacturers in continental Europe in early March. Tata has announced a gradual price increase of 125 pounds and 140-150 pounds, respectively. per ton of hot-rolled and hot-dip galvanized coils, respectively, at the beginning of the month. Then ArcelorMittal and other European manufacturers increased their offerings in the UK.
Steel buyers told MEPs that demand remains stable at a low level. Nevertheless, they partially agreed with this price increase, as they expected the introduction of reduced quotas for steel imports and an increase in quotas for excess supplies from July 1.
Speaking yesterday (March 18) at the Tata Steel steel plant in Port Talbot, UK, Minister of Business and Trade Peter Kyle revealed some details of the new strategy of the British steel company. He outlined in detail a plan according to which import quotas would be reduced by 60% and tariffs exceeding quotas increased from 25% to 50% in accordance with EU proposals. He also spoke about the desire of the British economy to receive 40-50% of steel from domestic producers, compared with about 30% in the UK. 2024.
From January next year, the UK will also introduce a European-style carbon boundary regulation mechanism (CBAM). Like the EU CBAM, which went into effect on January 1 this year, the new mechanism will add taxes on UK steel imports based on emissions, which will put further upward pressure on domestic steel prices.
Rising steel prices in the UK threaten to reduce the profit margins of both importers and domestic steel consumers. However, the Minister of Business and Trade said that the planned changes to the UK's tariff quotas for steel, which have not yet been detailed in official UK government documentation, "will be aimed at ending a ten-year chapter of destructive deindustrialization," adding that this "will protect the sector from anti-industrial measures."- competitive behavior in other countries of the world."
The steel sector is in crisis
Steel production in the UK has been in a long-term decline, falling from more than 20 million tons per year in the 1970s to just
