CELSA requests measures for the european steel sector with which to compete on equal terms
- The president of CELSA Group, in his capacity as president of EUROFER, highlights the importance of having access to low-carbon energy, as well as enough scrap to be able to produce sustainable steel and thus face the necessary challenges of transformation of the sector.
- Rubiralta has taken advantage of his intervention before the Italian steel sector to value the steel industry, necessary to meet the objectives of the Green Deal and thus transform the European Union into a competitive, carbon neutral and circular economy.
Barcelona, May 11, 2023.- The president of CELSA Group, Francesc Rubiralta, in his capacity as president of EUROFER, has participated in the Assembly of the Italian Federation of Steel Producers that has taken place in Milan (Italy), with an intervention in which he has requested for the European steel sector measures to be able to compete on equal terms with the rest of the producers in the world.
Francesc Rubiralta highlighted the strategic importance of the European steel sector, as a “backbone” for the creation of clean technological value chains in the economy of the European Union” and stressed that “they can contribute significantly to meeting the objectives of the Green Deal by offering technologies and solutions to transform the European Union into a competitive economy, carbon neutral and circular,” he said.
The president of Eurofer recalled that the steel industry is the most important recycler in the European Union in terms of recycling rate, tonnages, and turnover, but also in terms of circularity and remarked that “the collection rate of steel scrap in the European Union reaches almost 90% and is the highest among all major materials and regions worldwide. In this regard, he explained that “with the nearly 20 million tons of steel scrap that the European Union exports each year, we could reduce emissions by another 30 million tons of CO2, which shows that scrap is a critical material for Europe’s path towards decarbonization”.
For Francesc Rubiralta, who spoke on behalf of the entire European steel sector, commented that “steel is fundamental to meet the renewable energy objectives of the European Union, since it is the central material used in all green energy technologies and in clean technology value chains” and remarked that “each new MW of wind energy requires more than 120 tons of steel and that the Wind turbines are 70% made of this essential material.”
However, Rubiralta warned that the sector needs support from Europe to support the objectives of the Green Deal as is also being done in other countries and gave the example of the United States in which under the administration of President Joe Biden, who has promoted andadopted measures to boost the North American steel sector.
In this sense, Francesc Rubiralta, on behalf of Eurofer, said that “the Net Zero Industry Law should recognize the role of the steel sector and that of other energy-intensive industries, in the supply of products, materials and affordable energy to create strategic, renewable and low-carbon value chains”.
Rubiralta therefore summarized in three points the demands of the steel sector to Europe: access to sufficient and affordable low-carbon energy and steel scrap for the transition; more security and faster public financing procedures for the granting of permits and the establishment of leading markets for green steel; and finally, a trade policy that is flexible enough to ensure a level playing field with global competitors.
Francesc Rubiralta was invited to participate in the Assembly of the Federation of Steel Producers of Italy, one of the greenest steel production markets in Europe, in the words of its president, Antonio Gozzi, who agreed with the president of Eurofer on “the strongly strategic character of the steel industry in general and also of the Italian one. Italy currently ranks 11th in world steel production and has 80% of green steel production, while in Europe that percentage does not exceed 50%. In Spain, the percentage thanks to the presence of CELSA Group is already 75%.
The Assembly of the Federation of Steel Producers of Italy was attended by the Italian Minister of Enterprise, Adolfo Urso, with the intervention through a video message from the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, the Vice President of the Edison Foundation, Marco Fortis and the president of the Fondazione Mezzogiorno, Antonio D’Amato.
About CELSA Group
CELSA Group is the first European producer of low-emission circular steel with the largest circular supply chain in Europe. It recycles ferrous scrap to produce steel in electric arc furnaces, using the most sustainable and energy-efficient technology.
The company is made up of 6 business groups and has 120 work centers, 7 steel mills, 12 rolling mills and 45 recycling plants, as well as transformation and distribution companies, which generate direct, indirect, and induced employment for more than 70,000 professionals. It is present in Spain, France, United Kingdom, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Italy, and Ireland.
The group works to solve the greatest systemic risks on the planet: the depletion of resources and the fight against climate change. To this end, it has set itself the objectives of reducing itsCO2 emissions by 50% and reaching 98% circularity by 2030 and completing its circularity and being a Net Positive company in 2050.
More information:
Laura Sabaté
Tel. +34 616 95 20 66
l.sabate@romanrm.com
