Posted on 23 Oct 2019
Nineteen steel industry associations from across the globe have called in an open letter for governments to step up efforts to tackle overcapacity.
To achieve some results, the associations believe authorities should continue to fight against market-distorting subsidies, uphold effective trade remedies to ensure a level-playing field, and facilitate the exit of inefficient firms.
As part of the requests, the associations specifically require members to extend further the mandate of the G20 Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity past its current expiration in 2019, Kallanish notes.
“We are grateful for the efforts made to date by the G20 and OECD governments to address excess capacity, and to support a playing field at the G20 Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity and OECD Steel Committee,” the industry groups say.
“Unfortunately, effective reductions in capacity and concrete actions to remove government measures that distort markets, including raw materials markets, have not been adequate to date,” they continue. “Efforts by governments to eliminate practices that lead to excess capacity should be redoubled. We are hopeful that the diligent efforts of Japan, the current G20 Chair, are successful in extending the G20 Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity beyond 2019, and we urge all G20 and OECD steelmaking economies to pursue all vigorous means to obtain substantive results on the critical problem of steel excess capacity.”
Eurofer, the European steelmakers association, voiced its request to continue operating through the G20 Global Forum. It underlined that excess capacity in the world still stands at some 500 million tonnes and the OECD expects it to rise again in 2020.
