The industry is under extreme pressure
According to the organizations, the sector is "under water" with no improvement in the economic outlook, and steel demand in Europe remains deeply depressed without any changes. significant recovery is expected. Capacity restructuring and plant closures continue, while global competitors expand production and global overcapacity accelerates. In addition, unfair and cheap imports in the EU now account for 27 percent of the market, which is twice the level of 2012.
The accumulation of stocks threatens this measure even before it begins
Massive inventory accumulation is already underway, driven by anticipation of future trade measures. EUROFER and IndustriALL have warned that if the new rules do not take effect until June 2026, importers will continue to flood the market over the next year, weakening the impact of the measure even before it is implemented. They claim that:
- the measure should take effect no later than April 1, 2026,
- amendments delaying adoption in parliament or the council will worsen the crisis,
- 2026 risks becoming "another lost year a year" for EU steelmakers if action is slow.
EUROFER and IndustriALL Europe called on EU institutions to act decisively, taking the European Commission's proposal as a priority, implementing a trade measure by April 2026 and combining it with a credible industrial strategy to protect the European metals value chain. The organizations have concluded that the steel industry – and the hundreds of thousands of workers it employs – cannot wait for help until June.
