ArcelorMittal calls on the EU to increase support for green investments

European steelmakers are under considerable pressure, said the company's CFO

ArcelorMittal has called on the EU to strengthen trade protection and increase support for green investments as high costs and cheap Chinese imports threaten the bloc’s steel industry. The company’s CFO Genuino Cristino said this in a conversation with Reuters.

According to him, the European steel industry is under considerable pressure.

“We are facing high costs, some of them imposed, and unfair competition from imports, direct or indirect, from China. The industry needs support,” said the ArcelorMittal CFO.

Christino added that last year, imports reached a record level, with imported flat products accounting for 27% of the market.

In November 2024, ArcelorMittal suspended part of its European decarbonization plan, citing high energy costs, policy uncertainty and weak demand. The company’s CFO explained that although customers are widely interested in low-carbon steel, their willingness to pay premiums and thus actually buy such products is limited. The company sells such steel only at a premium.

Last year, ArcelorMittal doubled its sales of low-emission XCarb steel in Europe. However, according to Cristiano, this level is still low – 400 thousand tons against 28.7 million tons of conventional steel products shipped to the European market last year.

The CFO of ArcelorMittal confirmed that government support will be a key factor in ensuring the modernization of production and maintaining the company’s competitiveness.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Alain Le Grix de la Salle, CEO of ArcelorMittal France, warned that a third of the European steel industry could disappear if the EU does not take action against unfair competition from imports. The company calls for strengthening trade defenses, reforming the CBAM to ensure fair competition in the carbon market, and promptly implementing new strategies such as the Clean Industrial Deal.