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Global steel giant ArcelorMitttal has slammed European Union renewables rules as “unrealistic”. The firm’s chief executive Lakshmi Mittal has claimed that “over regulation” in the bloc threatened to “destroy the manufacturing industries that are the back bone of Europe’s economy".
On the eve of publication of the EU’s 2030 Energy and Climate Framework Mittal wrote in the FT: “efficiency benchmarks for steel plants, set by the commission, are simply unachievable”. He said cheap energy in the US arising from its shale gas boom along with “industry friendly” policies were giving US-based heavy industries a strong advantage. “EU energy and climate policy is punishing the steel sector and other energy-intensive industries,” he said.
Mittal’s warning came as Brussels prepared to release figures that show industrial electricity prices in the EU to be double those in the US and 20 per cent higher than China’s.
According to Mittal: “There is no realistic prospect of renewables powering the European steel industry soon,” and added: “EU emissions reduction targets were, for the steel sector, “ out of reach even for the most advanced plants” .
Mittal claimed that US energy prices would wipe $1 billion off AcelorMittal’s costs. He urged Brussels to seek global cooperation on carbon emission cuts to bring EU climate change policies “in line with commitments from our international competitors.”
A growing number of industries have been lured back to the US by low energy prices arising from the American shale gas boom.
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