OECD Steel Committee to Check Competition Advantage of State Owned Steels

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) held Steel Committee in Paris on May 31 and June 1 to discuss steel supply and demand in the members’ countries. Mr. Koichi Shiota, who is director of iron and steel division of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, attended the meeting. The committee agreed to launch new research and analysis on state owned steel makers’ advantage in raw materials interest and competitiveness against private steel makers. The research is to find potential problems of the state owned makers.

Denmark and Norway withdraw from the committee while France and Greece already announced the exit. The committee will discuss the budget with smaller members when remaining members have to cover the lower revenue if they would keep the total budget.

US and European members showed concern on overcapacity when China allowed Zhanjiang and Fangchenggang steel projects with each annual 10 million tonnes of output capacity. The members discussed raw materials’ export restriction could distort market mechanism.