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05-31-2012, 05:45 PM
After the EU launched an investigation into whether exporters of welded steel pipes and profiles from Turkey, Macedonia and Ukraine are selling their products to the European market at prices lower than those of European manufacturers, the three countries have turned the tables, accusing the Union is practicing unprincipled protectionism.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of an appeal to the Union from several European steel pipe manufacturers. They asked for a probe to determine whether the countries' exports had inflicted damage on the industry within the Union.
"If the EU imposes a ban on Macedonian producers for export to Europe, we believe it will adversely affect our business. It will certainly have negative consequences for the country's economy as a whole," Mite Shapkovski, the owner of the Metalopromet factory in Strumica, told SETimes.
Shapkovski's company is one of the three from Macedonia that are being investigated.
The total volume of pipe production by factories in Europe during 2011 was 3,250,000 tonnes -- while imports from Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine to Europe totaled 340,000 tonnes.
The European market has a capacity for more than 3,000,000 tonnes of pipes and profiles annually. Before the economic crisis that engulfed first the metal sector in the second half of 2008, that figure ranged to over 4,000,000 tonnes.
The steel products are mostly used in the construction industry to build ships, trucks, farm equipment, metal furniture, windows and toys.
If Brussels decides to impose additional charges, Macedonia's exports in particular will suffer tremendous damage. Two of the three export companies are listed in the top 100 exporters in Macedonia.
"For us, the European market is our principal, which means that if they did ban, we will have major financial consequences and [have to fire] employees," Slobodan Bogdanovski, from the FCZ 11 October factory in Kumanovo, told SETimes.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/05/31/feature-02
The investigation was initiated on the basis of an appeal to the Union from several European steel pipe manufacturers. They asked for a probe to determine whether the countries' exports had inflicted damage on the industry within the Union.
"If the EU imposes a ban on Macedonian producers for export to Europe, we believe it will adversely affect our business. It will certainly have negative consequences for the country's economy as a whole," Mite Shapkovski, the owner of the Metalopromet factory in Strumica, told SETimes.
Shapkovski's company is one of the three from Macedonia that are being investigated.
The total volume of pipe production by factories in Europe during 2011 was 3,250,000 tonnes -- while imports from Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine to Europe totaled 340,000 tonnes.
The European market has a capacity for more than 3,000,000 tonnes of pipes and profiles annually. Before the economic crisis that engulfed first the metal sector in the second half of 2008, that figure ranged to over 4,000,000 tonnes.
The steel products are mostly used in the construction industry to build ships, trucks, farm equipment, metal furniture, windows and toys.
If Brussels decides to impose additional charges, Macedonia's exports in particular will suffer tremendous damage. Two of the three export companies are listed in the top 100 exporters in Macedonia.
"For us, the European market is our principal, which means that if they did ban, we will have major financial consequences and [have to fire] employees," Slobodan Bogdanovski, from the FCZ 11 October factory in Kumanovo, told SETimes.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2012/05/31/feature-02