German steel companies criticize EU security measures

German flats and coiled steel converters questioned the rationale for new EU safety measures, saying they doubted that steel destined for the American market would be redirected to the European market.

"Until now, this is just speculation, but this is not the case when growing volumes of steel from Asia or Russia flood the European market," says the Fachvereinigung Kaltwalzwerke Cold Rolled Coil Association (FVK) and the Industrieverband Blechumformung (IBU) sheet makers association say into a joint statement. The statement said that IBU Managing Director Bernhard Jacobs recently held numerous negotiations with companies and found no confirmation of the effect of the steel dump on the European market.

The associations are demanding a response from the European Commission as to why it does not provide protection to the steel industries, which employ about 15 million people in Europe, versus 320,000 employed in the metals industry. "The volume of import supplies and the rise in prices for domestic steel," the association said in a statement.

“Current comments on US defensive duties point to damage to the US steel industry, and they are right,” says FVJ managing director Martin Kunkel. "But European politicians completely ignore it, and they do the same for European steelmakers."