British steelmakers push ministers to continue talks with Brussels to realize more generous country-specific quotas.
Graham Lanktree
The U.K.’s country-specific tariff-free quotas total about 1 million metric tons. This rises to 2.14 million tons when shared quota pools offered to FTA partners are factored in.
“We will need some time to analyse the specific details of the announcement with respect to different product categories,” said Rajesh Nair, chief executive officer of Tata Steel UK, pointing out the new quotas mark a 60 percent cut to products the U.K.’s largest steelmaker exports to the EU under guaranteed tariff-free quotas.
“Given the importance of the EU market to British steel producers, fair and workable market access remains critical if we are to achieve a sustainable steel industry here in the UK,” Nair said.
The pools are, however, likely to be quickly filled by countries with larger production, according to UK Steel.
“There is further work to be done by the Government as U.K.-EU reset talks continue,” said UK Steel’s Director-General, Gareth Stace.
“Securing wider export access for certain high-value steel products will be critical for the long-term viability and profitability of the U.K. steel sector,” Stace said. “The U.K. and EU are interdependent markets, and we hope both sides will take a reasonable view of each other’s needs as discussions take place over the coming months.”
This article has been updated.
