BRITISH steelmakers called for business minister Sajid Javid to insist on immediate action against Chinese steel “dumping” when he meets European Union economy and industry ministers in Brussels today.

    Britain requested the emergency meeting after nearly 4,000 of its steel jobs were lost or put at risk in October — equivalent to about a fifth of the sector’s work force — with steelmakers and unions pinning much of the blame on China.

    “The United States and other countries have already moved to prevent cheap Chinese imports distorting their markets and now the EU must do the same and, do so quickly ... if we’re to prevent large scale problems for steelmakers spreading,” said Gareth Stace, director of U.K. Steel, an industry lobby.

    China makes nearly half the world’s 1.6 billion tons of steel. It is expected to export a record 100 million tons of steel to world markets this year to help address its spare steelmaking capacity, estimated at 300 million tons.

    The issue made national headlines during Chinese President Xi Jinping state visit to Britain last month, putting the U.K. Government under pressure.

    As a result, it promised last week to start refunding the cost of green taxes, which push up energy prices for steel manufacturers as soon as the European Union grants state aid approval.

    But Britain’s steel sector says its biggest problem has been a sharp rise in steel imports from China. U.K. Steel said forecasts show that Chinese “dumping” of rebar steel in Britain is set to account for more than half the U.K. market of 720,000 tons in 2015.

    The European Commission opened an investigation into alleged rebar dumping in April. The investigations usually take 15 months, although the European Commission can set provisional duties after an initial nine months.

    Global steel prices are at the lowest level in over a decade due poor demand growth and structural oversupply. Consultants CRU estimate that some 700 million out of a total 2.3 billion tons of global steelmaking capacity is spare.

    Major steel producers in China suffered total losses of 28.12 billion yuan (US$4.42 billion) in the first three quarters of 2015, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said, as shrinking demand, soaring losses and tighter credit undermine firms in the world’s biggest producer. (SD-Agencies)