The signals are increasingly worrying for European industry, announcements of social plans are increasing. In recent days, it is the steel industry that is causing concern, in France but also in Germany.
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The European steel crisis is illustrated by two announcements: first ThyssenKrupp, the giant German steel, which wants to eliminate or transfer 11,000 positions by the end of the decade. That is more than a third of its workforce. An earthquake which confirms the poor health of the German economy. In Franceit is another giant of the sector, ArcelorMittal which threatens not to carry out the decarbonization work promised on its Dunkirk site.
“ Unfair extra-European competition »
The world’s number two steel company was to invest 1.8 billion euros to replace the historic coal-fired blast furnaces with electric furnaces; the French state had committed to putting 850 million euros on the table. But, before investing, ArcelorMittal asks, even demands, guarantees from Brussels. The group wants measures to protect European steel in the face of what it calls a ” unfair extra-European competition “.
We tremble in Dunkirk
The news makes Dunkirk tremble where steel brings to life one in five inhabitants. European steelmakers are caught in a vice: on the one hand demand is falling due to the crisis in the automobile sector, on the other the market is saturated with cheap steel from Chinaall pushing prices down. Add to that an energy price which has exploded since the war in Ukraine and European steel no longer appears competitive at all.
Also readFrance: ArcelorMittal delays its low-carbon steel project at its Dunkirk site