In view of the increasing shortage of supply quantities and extremely rising material prices in the steel sector, the Hagen-based Lagertechnik Betriebseinrichtung (VLB) association has now made an urgent appeal to Federal Economics Minister Peter Altmaier to relax the import regulations for steel. "The procurement problems with steel are becoming an existential challenge for manufacturers of warehouse technology and factory equipment," explains VLB Managing Director Olaf Heptner. "Against the backdrop of this tense market situation, the current import restrictions, which make it difficult for our manufacturers to switch to steel from third countries, are the wrong signal."

By comparison, a quarter of the crude steel produced in the EU28 is manufactured in Germany. At 35.6 million tons, around 10% less crude steel was produced in 2020 than in the previous year. This is the third year in a row that steel production has fallen - and the lowest production level since the crisis year of 2009. At the same time, steel prices rose by around 55% in the 18 months between September 2019 and March 2021, from an average of EUR 516 per tonne to just under EUR 800 per tonne. Daily prices for alloyed stainless steel in the trade have risen by 16% from EUR 1,594 per tonne to EUR 1,853 per tonne since the start of the year alone. Against this backdrop, the VLB is calling for the import regulations for steel to be relaxed. "If steel manufacturers deliberately reduce their capacities in order to drive prices to exorbitant heights, importing materials would be an aid," explains Heptner. "The current procurement crisis is confronting our companies with extreme supply problems. The current EU import restrictions are barriers that exacerbate the supply problems. Imports from third countries could ease the situation."

In fact, mechanical engineering is one of the steel industry's three most important customer sectors alongside the construction and automotive industries. Steel accounts for 20 percent of input materials in mechanical engineering and around 60 percent in steel and metal processing companies in Germany. According to the association, manufacturers of storage technology and factory equipment are currently facing enormous mark-ups on steel prices due to the deliberate shortage of materials in some areas. Corresponding renegotiations of project prices due to these previously unforeseeable price increases would put a strain on supplier/customer relationships. In addition, the critical situation is increasingly leading to delivery bottlenecks and delays to promised deadlines due to a lack of materials, making it almost impossible for the industrial companies placing orders to improve their logistics.

In order to safeguard the existence of German and European manufacturers of storage technology and factory equipment, the VLB is calling on Federal Economics Minister Altmaier to work at European level in the various committees to ensure that customs duties and import restrictions on steel procurement are lifted in the short term. "The EU import restrictions are not helping the market economy," says Heptner. "On the contrary, they are counteracting the necessary economic recovery, which is so urgently needed to successfully overcome the coronavirus pandemic and deal with its consequences in post-coronavirus times. Cheap imports from third countries will regulate the price of steel and bring it back to a respectable level. This option should not be ignored."