European Steel Makers Face Tough Times Ahead
Moody’s ratings agency predicts slowing demand and deteriorating profitability for the European steel makers. It said “Key sectors using European-made steel such as the automotive industry are likely to need less of the material next year amid a wider market slowdown. Meanwhile, escalating global trade tensions and a looming Brexit disrupting supply chains and stifling consumer confidence are major risks.”
Meanwhile, the European Commission is planning a carbon border tax aimed at shielding European steel producers and other energy-intensive industries against cheaper imports from countries with less strict climate policies. The EU new executive president Ms Ursula von der Leyen is due to unveil a first outline of her Green Deal, a package of regulations meant to drastically reduce carbon emissions of the bloc. The package will include a proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism for selected sectors to be introduced by 2021, according to a leaked Commission document. The plan could initially be tested on industries including steel, cement and aluminium
Europe’s steel makers have suffered a torrid 2019, with British Steel, UK’s second-largest, teetering on the brink of going bust, while Thyssenkrupp has issued one profit warning after another. Tata Steel has also cut jobs across the board.
Source : Strategic Research Institute