Article 50: what Brexit will mean for the UK's flat steel trade Report

Insight 22 March 2017

Get this report

$700

You can pay by card or invoice

Share link

First name
Last name
Job Title
Company
Email
Telephone

Country

Message

Consent

Please keep me informed about Wood Mackenzie products, services and events.

Submit Category

For details on how your data is used and stored, see our Privacy Notice.

- FAQs about online orders
- Find out more about subscriptions

Report summary

The UK is set to trigger Article 50, starting the two-year process for withdrawal from the EU28 group of countries. The Prime Minister has already signalled that the UK will leave the single market upon exiting the EU. The UK leaving the EU customs union creates problems for both sides, but there is more at stake for the UK steel industry. The UK joined the European Community in 1973 and UK steel producers have now had 44 years of integration. Access to the EU flat steel market is important for UK manufacturers and critical to cross-border supply chain management. With a high level of government intervention, crude steel producers and manufacturers could both benefit from Brexit, but early indications suggest that this will not be forthcoming. It will not be easy for the UK flat steel industry to go it alone and UK steel producers look likely to lose out.

How important is flat steel trade to the UK?
What will be the impact of Brexit on the EU flat steel trade?
- The default position – flat steel importers gain
- The protectionist position – steelmakers benefit
- The insular position – everybody wins ?
- The likely outlook – importers win, steelmakers struggle

Tables and charts

This report includes 4 images and tables including:

The UK is a net importer of all types of flat steels
Proportionally, more value-added products are imported than commodity grades
Trade with the UK represents less than 3% of total EU27 flat steel imports and exports
whereas the UK sources 65% of coated-steel used from the EU single market