Representatives of the country's federal lands formed the Steel Alliance
Representatives from eleven German steel regions formed a new national initiative, the Stahlallianz (Steel Alliance), to defend their common interests. One of the main themes of its resolution is the extension of European quotas on steel imports, Homburg1 reports .
Earlier this week, a meeting was held between state ministers, the minister of economy and climate protection and key representatives of the industrial organizations Steel Association and IG Metall.
Germany's federal states, which are home to steel companies, are calling on the government to extend protective EU quotas on steel imports until mid-2026 to avoid the redirection of trade routes that distorts competition.
“The Steel Alliance calls on the German federal government to advocate, at European level, a limited extension of steel safeguard measures in line with WTO rules, which provide for an eight-year duration for safeguard measures,” Stahlallianz said in a statement.
The Steel Alliance also calls for more steel products to be included in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to protect steel production in Europe.
Furthermore, steel regions require the government to support the steel industry in order to create better investment prospects. In particular, they point to high energy costs and the impact of this factor on the industry's international competitiveness. The Steel Alliance welcomes Berlin's decision to reduce electricity tax for industrial sectors. However, stabilization of network charges and transitional price financing for energy-intensive industries are still needed.
Another topic is the future transformation of the steel industry, following last year's Constitutional Court decision that blocked the reallocation of 60 billion euros of funds not used to combat coronavirus to the Climate and Transformation Fund. The Alliance welcomes the fact that the federal government wants to continue its programs to decarbonize industry and develop the hydrogen economy, but clarity on the procedure must be created as quickly as possible.
Alliance members also call on authorities to make public financing available to medium-sized companies in the sector in the long term during the transformation.
Furthermore, Stahlallianz called for continued negotiations between the EU and the US to resolve global overcapacity and decarbonize the steel and aluminum sectors.
As the GMK Center previously reported, demand for additional electricity from the German steel industry will increase in the context of decarbonization. By 2030, the industry will need 48 TWh of additional electricity for hydrogen electrolysis.
