45 European steel executives and the head of the steelmaking association have this week sent an open letter to the continent’s heads of State and Governments and to EU institutions. The purpose of this is to demand the strengthening of the existing safeguard measures from beginning of July.

The letter, seen by Kallanish and published by steelmaker's' association Eurofer, notes that the severe consequences of the negative shift in the European steel industry’s prospects are now visible. “Announcements have been made of plant closures or big cuts in production across the EU. Thousands of jobs are immediately at risk. This crisis is underpinned by long-term trends. Global overcapacity in steel and the use of the EU market as a dumping ground for the world’s excess capacity are at the root of the problem,” the writers say.

As a consequence the executives are also calling for an emergency meeting between European authorities and the EU steel industry. This is “... to discuss solutions to ensure the sector survive in the face of imbalanced external pressures.”

The European Commission initiated its review last month of the existing safeguard measures. Steelmakers and suppliers are requesting for the measures to be tightened further. Other market observers meanwhile are pointing out that duty-free quotas on some key products such as rebar, wire rod and HDG for automotive need to be increased to avoid altering the market.