The march, organised by the European steel association, Eurofer, follows a brutal few months for the United Kingdom steel industry which has seen thousands of jobs lost in the wake of cheap imports and high energy costs.
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“China is financing overcapacity, which leads to overproduction, which leads to selling below reasonable prices, below the cost of production”.
The European Union (EU) has launched on Wednesday, Feb. 10, a public consultation to seek inputs for its in-depth assessment of China’s status-changing and decide on whether to grant China the market economy status (MES) on the bloc’s economy, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said the Commission had a record number of trade defence measures against Chinese steel in place and would impose more if appropriate.
Last week, the world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, reported a staggering net loss of of just under $8 billion (7.16 billion euros) for 2015, more than four times the previous year’s net loss of $1.86 billion.
Officials say the commission prefers the third option, but industries warn that mitigating measures will do little to offset the resulting economic damage that would affect manufacturing sectors.
The carbon price assumption Koehler quoted is far higher than current levels of around 5 euros per tonne, although analysts expect the price will rise as the European Union implements reforms to remove surplus carbon permits that have weighed on the Emissions Trading System (ETS).
Beijing argues that its designation as a market economy should be granted automatically in accordance with the pact it entered into when joining the WTO in 2001.
Some European governments are calling for the European Commission to scrap what is called the “lesser duty” rule and implement tougher anti-dumping penalties.
More than 234,000 jobs in the EU are linked to the production of goods – ranging from electrical steel and solar panels to bicycles and ironing boards – that are protected by existing European anti-dumping duties against China.
Spokesman Milan Nitzschke said: “Market economy status to China would be a full licence to dump whenever and in every sector China wants to do it”.
Some 5,000 protesters packed the European district of the Belgian capital and their leaders handed an engraved metal plaque with their demands to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
The targeted producers of this kind of steel – used in everything from washing machines and air-conditioning equipment to cars and power lines – include Russia’s Novolipetsk Steel OJSC, Severstal PJSC and Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works OJSC; and China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Hebei Iron & Steel Co. and Angang Steel Co.
Mr Koehler stated the business was “not asking for special treatment”.
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He added: “The steel industry is in a fierce fight for its future”.
