Tata Steel confirms UK job losses, blaming Chinese imports
By Alasdair Sandford

LONDON: -- It reads like a list from British manufacturing’s dark days in the 1980s when job losses constantly filled news bulletins.

The Indian group Tata Steel has confirmed it is cutting 1,200 jobs, mostly in Scunthorpe and Lanarkshire – on top of more than 1,000 others already announced.

On Monday Caparo Industries went into administration, threatening 1,700 posts.

Earlier this month came news that more than 2,000 jobs would go on Teesside after steelworks owner SSI went into liquidation.

Altogether one in six jobs in Britain’s steel industry is under threat: a far cry from the days when the country dominated global steel production.

Chinese ‘dumping’ blamed

Several factors lie behind the job losses but above all industry experts cite the collapse in the price of steel – which is determined by supply and demand, not the cost of production.

From $490 (430 euros) a tonne in January this year, the price has plummeted – and despite a slight revival stands at $210 (185 euros) in October.

Tata says imports into Europe have increased massively, doubling in two years – and quadrupling from China.

Chinese “dumping” of cheap steel is partly blamed for the price fall.

“What we do know is that the prices that they’re able to sell at do undercut those in the UK. Now, obviously an element of that is a cheaper labour force; they’re able to produce things at a cheaper cost, that’s the nature of markets – they’ll be able to produce more and get a larger market share. But the sense is that maybe the price that they’re selling steel at is not actually even obtainable with their costs. It is being subsidised, and that is really an act to destabilise industry in the UK and other countries,” said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.

Tata Steel claims lack of action by the European Commission over cheap imports threatens the entire European steel industry.

Intervention ‘not the answer’

All this comes amid the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Britain.

The UK government rejects charges that it is failing to protect its industry.

Intervention it argues is not a solution, blaming global over-capacity in the steel sector which is managed at EU level.

“The EU has imposed tariffs on Chinese steel to ensure that the price of Chinese steel reaching consumers here is fair but there is a problem in this industry and we’ve got to balance the different industries and different sectors,” said the British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond.

The British government says other new business deals with China worth 40 billion euros will create nearly 4,000 jobs.

Small comfort perhaps to those who fear a devastating impact of widespread job cuts on towns and communities built on steel.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-10-21

Is a free trade good or bad to western manufacturing, we were sold a dud on this agreement .Try competing in the chinese domestic market,

Ironic given the Indians and in particular Tata were doing exactly what they are accusing China of not so many years ago..

One such country that sold all the crown jewels to foreigner enterprise, certainly paying the price now.

One such country that sold all the crown jewels to foreigner enterprise, certainly paying the price now.

Indeed.

Try buying into certain industries in France, Germany or Italy and see how their governments react. Screw EU law whenever it suits them.

France will stop any forced closures period. Italy will simply ignore EU rules and subsidies certain businesses.

One such country that sold all the crown jewels to foreigner enterprise, certainly paying the price now.

Heavy industry in the form of the steel industry is not the crown jewels and hasn't been for a long, long time.

One such country that sold all the crown jewels to foreigner enterprise, certainly paying the price now.

Indeed.

Try buying into certain industries in France, Germany or Italy and see how their governments react. Screw EU law whenever it suits them.

France will stop any forced closures period. Italy will simply ignore EU rules and subsidies certain businesses.

Using France and Italy as role models is pretty desperate stuff. I guess you would have stopped German countries taking over the 'crown jewels' of the British car industry?

Two announcements this morning.

Tata Steel is beginning the formal process of selling its loss-making UK plants, inviting interested bidders to submit their offers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36009437

And this from the Chinese, closing the stable door.

CHINA PRESS: China will cut 200 million tons of steel capacity in the next five...

CHINA PRESS: China will cut 200 million tons of steel capacity in the next fiveyears bringing total capacity to 1.13 billion tons by 2020, Phoenix News Mediasays in a report quoting an unnamed Ministry of Industry and InformationTechnology official. It will be difficult because of differences between thecentral and local governments and because of the number of workers that will belaid off, the report says. China won't try to solve overcapacity with exports,the official said. About 500,000 job losses are expected in the steel industry,Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security head Yin Weimin has saidpreviously. (Phoenix News Media)

Source: Market News International (MNI) – A Deutsche Börse company

11. April 2016 08:19:32

So the EU give subsidies to China Steel industry, We pay our daily contributions of 55+million a day to the corrupt dictatorship of the EU, Then the EU makes it impossible for us to make Steel at a competitive price because of all the stupid red tape they make us live by. So we lose our steel industry. How is the EU any good for it's European citizens. It's a failed project and needs to end immediately.