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The proposals would only be presented when they were ready, Parmelin said on Radio SRF’s ‘Samstagsrundschau’ programme. That still took some time. The federal government is in contact with the affected companies.
“Of course it would be a difficult moment if this industry were to suddenly fall,” said the Minister of Economy, Education and Research. But the Swiss steel industry also has advantages. For example, it works two to three times as efficiently as the one in France, is very active and good at processing so-called green steel.
This concerns steel that, thanks to a new production method, produces less carbon dioxide than the classic process.
“Whether we can solve everything: probably not”
This is important. “Maybe we can support new projects,” says Parmelin. First, his WBF department and Uvek of Federal Councilor Rösti should complete the processing of the proposals. “Whether we can solve everything: probably not,” says Parmelin.
The questions to Parmelin came against the backdrop that several MPs from different parties in Federal Bern have submitted proposals in recent days regarding the crisis-ridden Swiss steel industry. This calls for transitional financing for this sector, which some proposals describe as systemically important.
However, the Federal Council had become active earlier because the federal council members had accepted a motion by former Solothurn State Councilor Roberto Zanetti last year. Zanetti and Parliament are demanding that the federal government support the steel and aluminum industries in view of rising energy prices.
The Federal Council opposed the motion. Economy Minister Parmelin said at the time that the bill would create new dependencies. Moreover, energy prices have calmed down again. In addition, other sectors are also affected by the higher prices; the motion would lead to unequal treatment. In any case, the state cannot absorb all the advantages and disadvantages of competition.
Parmelin said on Saturday that there has been overcapacity in the steel industry for years. And steel shows that certain agreements are not adhered to when it comes to their own interests.
As the Federal Council recently stated in an answer to a parliamentary question, it has repeatedly intervened with the EU to demand that the 1972 Reciprocal Free Trade Agreement between Switzerland and the EU be respected when it comes to steel.
Grace period for Stahl Gerlafingen
On Friday, the company Stahl Gerlafingen, based in the canton of Solothurn, announced that it wanted to close one of its two production lines. The production of so-called wide-area steel in Switzerland is no longer profitable. The reason for this is the “unfair” competition in exports to the EU.
In addition, high energy and network costs in Switzerland would make steel production more expensive. Because the EU has imposed quotas on steel imports from third countries as a result of the trade conflict with the US, the steel quotas are currently used almost exclusively by suppliers from third countries such as Brazil, Vietnam or Egypt.
Stahl Gerlafingen cannot do anything about their delivery times, which are sometimes only a few hours. The current situation therefore amounts to an export ban to the EU, the report said.
On Thursday it was announced that Swiss Steel, based in Lucerne, suffered a huge loss in 2023 and had to increase capital.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
