{"id":6480,"date":"2015-10-27T16:12:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T16:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=6480"},"modified":"2015-10-27T16:12:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T16:12:37","slug":"not-just-a-steel-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=6480","title":{"rendered":"Not just a steel crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The government is significantly under-estimating a potentially devastating fall out in the West Midlands from the steel crisis, according to the West Midlands Economic Forum.<\/p>\n

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It warns that the complex \u00e2\u20ac\u0098eco-system\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 needed to sustain and expand steel and the manufacturers who rely on it needs an urgent co-ordinated government-led effort.<\/p>\n

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The West Midlands Economic Forum (WMEF) includes experts on the regional economy. These include policy makers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c2\u00a0representatives of financial institutions, manufacturers, economists, academics, and members of the voluntary sector.<\/p>\n

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Paul Forrest of WMEF is certain about the importance of steel-making in the UK. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSteel is a foundation industry, central to huge range of manufacturing in the West Midlands and elsewhere,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told UNITElive.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIts key importance is why, for example, the Germans nurture their steel industry so much.<\/p>\n

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High quality steel <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo make high quality precision components, you need high quality steel. UK steel is made with less than one per cent impurities, that is incredible, but that is what is needed.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur manufacturing base demands high spec components for aerospace, automotive and nuclear generation. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deliver precision components with weaker quality steel.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne of the great tragedies of the loss of Consett, for example, was the blow to our producing steel of high enough quality for nuclear energy components. But a whole range of manufacturing might suffer without a healthy UK steel industry.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf our manufacturers can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get sufficient quantities of high quality steel from the UK then they have to get it from further away. That pushes up costs, reduces the ability to respond quickly and eats away at any competitive advantage.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The forum estimates that around 30,000 people in the West Midlands are directly employed in metals production, fabrication machining, manufacturing and vehicle manufacturing. \u00c2\u00a0But with another 160,000 jobs linked to steel supply in some way, it is not just a \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsteel crisis\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 says Forrest.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur manufacturing base is still highly competitive and plays a major and under-estimated role in our economy. Policy makers must be clear steel is a key part of the complex eco-system that sustains and nourishes our manufacturing base.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Manufacturing and steelmaking have been hit by the jump in the value of sterling against the euro and the Chinese yuan. The euro zone countries devalued their currency by printing more money \u00e2\u20ac\u201cquantitative easing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c giving them a competitive advantage against the UK.<\/p>\n

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The Chinese appear to be in a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098currency war\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 devaluing their currency against a range of others to make their goods cheaper.<\/p>\n

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The Bank of England\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long-running warnings over two years that it might push up UK interests rates has also artificially pushed up the value of sterling making imports cheaper and what we sell abroad more expensive.<\/p>\n

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Forrest says manufacturers and steelmakers need greater currency predictability.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt might take 18 months of an export drive to get your first sale. In that time the value of currency could have swung against you, putting you in trouble.<\/p>\n

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Policy <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA fixed exchange is not going to happen but we need a monetary and fiscal policy which produces a more predictable exchange rate. The strength of the pound has had a real impact on UK steelmakers and manufacturers.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMassive Chinese over-capacity in steel is not going to last forever. When China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy makes the transition from investment focussed to consumer focussed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as it will \u00e2\u20ac\u201c their steel exports will diminish rapidly.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSteelmakers need energy prices to be addressed. In Germany intensive industrial users of energy pay half the price of UK steelmakers, the reality is that needs to be addressed quickly.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The Forum has a range of proposals to assist the steel industry from accessing EU funds for training and skills, to offering help to exporters hit by the strength of the pound.<\/p>\n

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Strategy for steel <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It adds up to having a strategy for steel, but also by implication, for manufacturing. That isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lost on Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is very obvious there needs to be a co-ordinated government strategy. And it is obvious we are addressing a steel crisis which could have a domino effect across manufacturing.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government needs to wake up to the risks which are emerging. It must move on from listing what it can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t or doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to do, to focussing on what it must do to protect and rebuild our steel industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Gerard Coyne, Unite West Midlands regional secretary said the Forum highlighted the importance of steel to West Midlands manufacturing as a whole.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo one is saying that 160,000 jobs are under threat, but they can certainly be undermined by the government being too narrow-minded or unwilling to act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat happened at Caparo came out of the blue and was devastating news. But it highlights that there may not be proper awareness of the number of jobs potentially ‘at risk’.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government is significantly under-estimating a potentially devastating fall out in the West Midlands from the steel crisis, according to the West Midlands Economic Forum.   It warns that the complex \u00e2\u20ac\u0098eco-system\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 needed to sustain and expand steel and the manufacturers who rely on it needs an urgent co-ordinated government-led effort.   The West Midlands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[55,269],"wps_subtitle":"Fall out will hurt UK manufacturing jobs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6481,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6480\/revisions\/6481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}