The latest OECD data released in Paris confirms a deepening global steel crisis, according to the European Steel Association (EUROFER).
According to the OECD, global steel excess capacity reached around 640Mt in 2025, more than 200Mt above total OECD steel production, and is set to continue rising. Global steelmaking capacity has, at the same time, climbed to a record 2.4 billion tonnes.
EUROFER has urged the European Union to act swiftly and adopt its new steel trade measure.
Axel Eggert, director-general of EUROFER, commented: “The OECD findings are clear: global steel overcapacity is not only massive, it is growing. This is an existential threat to European steelmaking, investment and jobs.”
"Global steel overcapacity is not only massive, it is growing. This is an existential threat to European steelmaking, investment and jobs.”
Axel Eggert, director-general of EUROFER.
Against this backdrop, EUROFER stressed that the new EU steel trade measure currently under negotiation is urgently needed to prevent further market destabilisation.
The proposed system introduces a tariff-rate quota (TRQ), allowing controlled volumes of imports while protecting the EU market from the effects of global overcapacity and trade diversion. Any weakening of the proposal would reduce its effectiveness, EUROFER has claimed, stressing that time is running out.
“The EU negotiators must not dilute the new trade measure currently on the table. It must remain robust, enforceable and in place before the existing safeguard expires in June. Any gap would leave the EU steel market exposed at a critical moment for Europe," Eggert added.