Giuseppe Pasini, chairman of Italy's Feralpi Group, one of the leading long steel manufacturers in the European Union, spoke with Fastmarkets' Julia Bolotova about the challenges facing the European steel sector and Feralpi's strategy in light of the EU's ambitious greenhouse emissions reduction goals and global trade restrictions.
Energy crisis in EuropeThe recent jump in electricity and gas prices has pushed production costs for electric-arc furnace-based mills in Europe sharply higher. This is a problem affecting the whole European steel sector and requires one common solution, Feralpi Group believes."The European energy market depends on foreign energy sources from outside Europe - Russia and North Africa, in particular. That makes our market vulnerable," Pasini said.Europe should have larger internal gas storage to manage energy crises like the one affecting the industry now, when during peak hours electricity and gas prices surge. Having this gas storage would help balance the energy market, according to Pasini.But it is a problem that requires a structural, long-term approach, he said.In the meantime, to manage growing energy costs, Feralpi Group has a five-year goal to install more than 100MW of renewable power to cover 20% of the group's energy requirements for its production sites...