Company
Marcegaglia Stainless Sheffield is expanding its product range due to the ongoing debate about the impact of steel production quotas on processing industries, Kallanish notes.
Liam Bates, President of Marcegaglia Stainless in Sheffield, notes in an online commentary that the company's successful experience in Europe and the United States demonstrates its ability to provide this sector. He argues that the impact of British quotas on long-range stainless steel products is not as strong as some predict, and that there is a practical solution. The UK stainless steel long products market was previously estimated at 33,000 tonnes, but following the latest government review, two non-domestically produced product codes were abolished, reducing the effective market size to 30,000 tonnes.
The government has also increased duty-free quotas to 20,000 tons per year, which means there are 30,000 tons for every ton of stainless steel products in the UK. Produced domestically, approximately two tons can still be imported duty-free.
"Most stakeholders agree that the bulk of the demand is for standard products that can be produced locally. The problem is that a significant portion of the stainless steel distribution in the UK is wholly or partly owned by European steel mills or their subsidiaries. For many years, these companies have been supplying products to the UK market from their European manufacturing base and, for obvious reasons, want to protect their positions. However, trade policy is currently changing purchasing patterns in both the UK, the EU and the US," says Bates.
"As a result, supplier search strategies will have to[change], and the UK cannot be an exception," adds Bates. He argues that even in the worst-case scenario, the average impact of tariffs on the market is about 17% if every ton is imported, and that this does not entail changes in customer behavior.
In his opinion, the most practical solution for importers is to attract a larger share of standard materials from other countries. British producers continue to import special varieties that are less available on the domestic market. A relatively small shift in production volumes towards compliance with domestic standards would create opportunities for further free distribution of specialized products, he concludes. Company
Marcegaglia Stainless is expanding its production facilities in Northern Europe and its range of rolled products at its plant in Fagerst, Sweden,
