A No-Deal Brexit would have a “hugely negative” impact for UK steel companies

UK Steel, the trade association for the UK steel industry, recently released a report analyzing the impact of a No-Deal Brexit on British steel companies. 

Departure from the EU without an agreement would have a negative impact on annual sales worth £2.8bn (equal to €3.18bn).

The UK produced 7.5m tonnes of steel in 2017, of which 3.6m tonnes were exported (2.6m, around a third, to the EU). With a No-Deal Brexit, this figures would be severely affected. The biggest immediate concern would be the additional cost and complexity of moving goods from the UK to the EU. Delay and additional checks/administration would increase the steel tonne price by 4/5% - £70 million/year for the industry - pushing many European companies to seek alternative steel providers. 

Furthermore, EU would certainly introduce a range of tariffs on imports of steel containing products (such as 10% on cars) from the UK, reducing export and production of these ones and ultimately affecting steel demand in the UK.

A No-Deal would also immediately exclude the UK from the 70+ EU's free-trade agreements with obvious economic issues. 

Other major implications of a No-Deal Brexit for UK Steel companies can be found here >>

However, United Kingdom would not be the only one to be hit: a recent study by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) forecasted that a Hard Brexit would cause a huge decrease in the UK demand for goods and services from the EU, thus provoking the loss of over 600,000 jobs in 43 countries (Germany, China, France, Poland and Italy on top).

The most concerned sectors would be: services, agriculture, metalworking and IT industry.

Would it be worth it?

Photo by: Ilovetheeu [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons