Marcegaglia Sheffield: Expansion of domestic supplies may ease UK concerns about stainless steel quotas

Marcegaglia Stainless Sheffield, the British subsidiary of Italian steel producer Marcegaglia Group, said concerns about the impact of steel production quotas on processing industries could be addressed by increasing purchases of domestically produced standard stainless steel products while maintaining imports of special grades.

According to Liam Bates, president of Marcegaglia Stainless Sheffield, the British stainless steel market was previously estimated at 33,000 tons of rolled steel. After the latest government review, two product codes not manufactured by the company were removed, reducing the market size to about 30,000 tons. The deleted categories mainly consisted of specialized sizes and ratings.

UK duty-free quota increased to 20,000 tons

At the same time, the UK government raised the tariff-free quotas to 20,000 tons per year. Bates stated that this means that approximately two tons can be imported duty-free for every metric ton produced domestically. Even if we assume that the entire market was provided by imports, he estimates that the average impact of tariffs on the market would be about 17%.

Bates noted that standard goods account for most of the demand in the UK. and they can mostly be produced domestically. However, a significant proportion of the UK's stainless steel distribution is wholly or partly owned by European bar manufacturers or their parent companies, which have traditionally supplied products to the UK from their European manufacturing facilities.

Internal suppliers can maintain quotas for special сорта

According to Bates, in this way, importers could respond to the changing terms of trade by providing a large proportion of their standard and interchangeable requirements with British suppliers. Producers continue to import special varieties that are less available on the domestic market. Such a transition will increase quotas for specialized products.

Marcegaglia Stainless Sheffield is also expanding its product range to serve a wider customer base in the UK. Bates stated that expanding domestic sources could support production in the UK while maintaining distribution networks and maintaining the competitiveness of specialized supply chains.