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Industrial policy and the European steel market
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The European steel industry is a strategic sector at the heart of the EU economy - responsible for 330,000 direct jobs and 2.6 million indirectly or induced jobs overall. The 160 million tonnes of finished steel the industry produces every year make modern life possible, with the metal used in automotive production, construction and in the creation of household and medical goods and appliances.
The importance and size of the European steel industry to the EU economy means that ensuring the regulatory and legislative framework is appropriate is the essential work of policy makers. This includes all facets of laws which affect the way the sector operates, including climate, competition, environment and trade policies. Only through getting all of these policies right can the sector's competitiveness be enhanced.
Taken together, the way these policy approaches interact is where the EU's industrial policy comes in: the attempt to bring order to a large rule book and to ensure that the right support and framework exists for the European steel sector to be competitive in a world of cut-throat competition. EUROFER supports the EU's work to build an industrial policy fit for the 21st century.
No industrial policy worth its name can exist without hard data confirming the trends in the sector. This is why EUROFER has a dedicated statistics and market analysis division - which compiles and updates a large body of statistical and economic data pertaining to the sector. This coverage includes employment, production, real and apparent demand, trade statistics and so on. EUROFER includes much of this data in its annual European Steel in Figures guide and its quarterly Economic and Market Outlook reports.
Brussels, 10 September 2024 – The Draghi Report thoroughly identifies the bottlenecks to both the EU industry's decarbonisation and competitiveness. The proposed recommendations for energy-intensive industries, including on energy, trade, carbon leakage, financing and lead markets, should be integrated into the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal and implemented with concrete measures as a matter of urgency. Alignment across different policies is crucial, and should be accompanied by sector-specific initiatives to enable the transition of each industry including steel, asks the European Steel Association.
Brussels, 05 September 2024 – The latest developments in the steel sector and across critical value chains are worrying signs of a steady deterioration, endangering the survival and the transition of steelmakers and their key manufacturing customers in Europe, such as automotive. A Clean Industrial Deal including swift and radical measures in EU industrial, energy and trade policies, is the last chance to ensure Europe’s prosperity and shield European industry from cheap imports driven by third countries’ unfair trade practices, overcapacity and lower climate ambition, urges the European Steel Association.
Third quarter 2024 report. Data up to, and including, first quarter 2024
The European Steel Association publishes quarterly economic reports assessing the state of the industry.
EUROFER is a member of Industry4Europe, a large and unprecedented coalition of organisations dedicated to campaigning for an ambitious EU industrial strategy.