Steel Industry: Stop Raising Climate Targets

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The European steel industry has warned that constantly raising the climate goals in Europe is scaring off investors and driving electricity prices up to four times higher than those found in other countries around the world.

The European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (Eurofer) (Brussels, Belgium) claimed that the European Council, which recently held its Energy Summit, must reshape polices to spur industrial growth. The European steel sector has been in decline over the past five years with many leading manufacturers, including ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) (Luxembourg, Luxembourg) and Tata Steel (BSE:500470) (Mumbai, India) shutting steel operations and reducing headcount to deal with low demand.

"The European Council must re-shape European Union (E.U.) policies into a real industrial policy for growth, jobs and innovation which other E.U. policies such as energy, climate and trade are part of and conditional on, not vice-versa as is currently the case," warned Eurofer, director general Gordon Moffat. "Industry builds the foundations for manufacturing, innovation and value creation in Europe. This is at risk as a result of the continued financial and economic crisis, structural and regulatory issues specific to the E.U., and excessively high energy prices for industrial producers in Europe. Renewable policies, carbon pricing and the structure of the electricity market play a significant role in driving power prices up in Europe. It is high time that the European Council tackles this crucial issue."

He added: "No company will invest in Europe if climate targets are unachievable and energy prices three or four times of the prices in other parts of the world".

Eurofer has called for climate policies and objectives to be 'sector-specific', based on what is technologically feasible and economically viable for each sector. It wants the Council to set a clear objective that will "substantially decrease" the gap of average energy prices for industrial consumers between the E.U. and its main competitors, namely the US.

In April, Eurofer revealed that crude steel production and apparent steel consumption in the European Union (E.U.) decreased during 2012 and showed little sign of improving for most of this year. For additional information, see May 8, 2013, article - No Spring Bloom for European Steel Sector.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.