Press Release No. 04/2016 IG Metall and the German Steel Association: The competitiveness of the steel industry must not be...

Frankfurt am Main/Düsseldorf – In a joint position paper, IG Metall and the German Steel Association warn against placing excessive burdens on the steel industry in Germany through political overregulation and cheap imports. “Companies and jobs that face international competition must not be jeopardized by disproportionate costs,” demanded Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, on Friday in Frankfurt. Hofmann fears that the impending tightening of emissions trading increases the risk of a gradual exodus of the steel industry and its jobs. To prevent this, IG Metall and the German Steel Association are calling for the top 10 percent of a sector’s most CO2-efficient facilities to receive emission allowances (certificates) free of charge—without any additional reduction in the so-called benchmarks or a correction factor.

“Even today, with the explosion in Chinese steel imports—which act as an ‘ecological backpack’—significantly more CO2 is being imported into Europe than if the steel were produced here. This harms both the climate and steel companies. Tightening emissions trading would massively exacerbate this problem,” said Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, president of the German Steel Association, in Düsseldorf. “If the European Commission’s proposal from July 2015 were to become reality, the steel industry in Germany would face costs totaling 10 billion euros between 2021 and 2030. This would be impossible to absorb, would completely deplete the funds available for investment, and would destroy the companies’ international competitiveness.”

IG Metall and the German Steel Association also jointly advocate continuing to exempt the environmentally efficient generation of electricity from by-product gases from the EEG surcharge. This energy recovery from by-product gases generated during steel production saves primary fuels and is CO2-neutral. It should therefore not be burdened by the purchase of certificates.

To draw attention to these dangers, IG Metall is holding a nationwide week of workplace actions from January 25 to 29, 2016. At Germany’s largest steel plants, workers will be informed about the threats to their jobs. Further actions will follow.

To the key points paper

To the joint press release