EU membership harming British steel says Welsh firm

Vote Leave campaigner, Andrew RT Davies, will tomorrow visit a steel coil coating company based in Newport to highlight the negative impact Britain’s EU membership is having on the Steel industry in Wales.

Coil Color currently employs sixty workers and have a turnover of approximately £12-15m a year – having traded successfully for almost thirty years.

The company has enjoyed domestic success, even with a strong pound, and work closely with TATA as part of the supply chain – like many small businesses.

However, in the last year the company says they have lost around 90% of their core business due to what they view as ‘unfair competition’ from imported European coil. They believe that Britain’s membership of the EU is having a devastating impact on the steel industry.

The company’s managing director – Dean Proctor – also highlights a recent complaint lodged with the European Commission by the European Steel association [Eurofer] against the Italian Government.

The Italian Government has been accused of offering “illegal state aid” to Italian steelmaker Ilva. Eurofer has said that about 2 billion Euros allocated by the Italian authorities is not compatible with EU regulations.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives – Andrew RT Davies – said:

“It is clear that Britain’s membership of the EU has dramatically undermined the best efforts of the UK Government to tackle the issue of Chinese steel dumping.

“We are constantly force-fed the line that Britain benefits from being part of a bigger market in the form of the EU, but it is also deeply worrying from a domestic point of view, to hear about the impact that our EU membership has on other parts of the steel industry; and in particular smaller firms like Coil Color who are being pushed to the edge by Britain’s membership.

“EU red tape is a big enough hurdle for smaller firms to climb as it is, but it is clear that the EU is having an insidious impact on the viability of local jobs in the wider industry.

“The story of Coil Color is a story being repeated throughout Wales, and it’s becoming clearer that our steel industry would be better off if the UK left the European Union.”

Managing Director of Coil Color, Dean Proctor, said:

“In the last year we have lost around 90% of our core business to imported coated coil from the EU, mainly from Italy, and as a consequence we are having to diversify our product range to stay competitive.

“We understand the principle of competition in business, but the onerous levels of regulation and red tape are affecting all small businesses – and membership of the EU makes it harder to maintain a level playing field against cheap imports from across the world including the EU, which is also having a huge impact on TATA’s situation.

“We firmly believe that Britain’s membership of the EU is harming the steel industry.

“We have enjoyed success domestically, even with a strong pound, and support TATA where possible but it is clear that given the Welsh economy’s dependence on the steel industry we need to take decisive action and that’s why we back a vote to leave the EU.”