Latin America’s steel association, Alacero, has listed several actions the global steel industry could take, so the crisis affecting the global markets could be solved.
Alacero, which will join a High Level Symposium organized by the OECD Steel Committee and the government of Belgium on April 18 and 19 in the city of Brussels, said there’s no “single” or “magical answers” to the global steel crisis.
The solution, according to the steel association, should be combined with several elements, from which Alacero highlighted six.
First, “there must be an international negotiation with direct involvement from the governments to generate actions to be followed mandatorily and transparently by all parties involved, and that help avoid anti-competitive actions,” it noted.
In addition, the private sector must be involved throughout the whole process, Alacero said, adding a “period of time to carry out those actions should be defined.”
The local trade group claimed for “real and achievable objectives”, which “must be set.” “The ultimate goal must be to accomplish a level playing field,” it explained.
On the sanctions side, Alacero argued “there must be trade measures to facilitate structural adjustment as well as sanctions to those countries or companies that do not fulfill their commitments or have unfair trade practices.”
Lastly, the trade group added that within the policies to be defined, it is necessary to establish “regulations, … financial resources, eliminate subsidies, and remove the exit barriers of the industry and anything else causing a distortion in the market.”
Alacero said these are the “starting points” for the industry to solve its crisis.
The local association said the global steel crisis isn’t a short term concern, but a long term issue that needs to be addressed.