The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC), a working group to establish transparency for mapping global overcapacity, was reactivated in a meeting last week.

The Global Forum was formally established on 16 December 2016 in Berlin. It brought together G20 members and further OECD members that together represent around 90% of global steel production and capacity. The group was mandated by the OECD for three years to help gather data to make overcapacity more transparent.

In November last year, China decided to step out of the Forum, after which the remaining members decided it made little sense to continue the initiative without its biggest member. On 7 and 8 July, however, a meeting took place at which representatives of the remaining member countries agreed to relaunch the Forum and carry on, even without China.

Communication from the meeting has been sparse, meaning its circumstances and outcome remain somewhat unclear, Kallanish is told by a spokesman for European steelmakers’ association Eurofer. The meeting was moderated from Tokyo, but most members likely participated via conference calls and online platforms. It remains unclear if the group has been re-mandated by the OECD to carry on with its work, or if this formal step still needs to be taken.