'Deglobalisation' is an opportunity, Acerinox says

By Javi West Larrañaga

(Reuters) -Spanish steelmaker Acerinox said on Thursday it expects to benefit from "deglobalisation" and increased trade barriers, though tariff-related uncertainties hurt the company's first-quarter results.

Acerinox has a unique position in the industry, Chief Corporate Officer Miguel Ferrandis said on a conference call, as producing in three different continents gives it a strategic advantage to take advantage of "regionalisation issues".

The company's net profit in the first quarter fell 81% compared with the same period in 2024 to 10 million euros ($11.28 million) in a steel market downturn exacerbated by the trade war. Shares were down 1.3% at 1028 GMT, partly recovering from a 5% decline earlier in the day.

The steel industry has been at the centre of global trade wars ever since U.S. President Donald Trump first introduced steel tariffs during his first term.

Trump's successor Joe Biden lifted them on European Union metals in 2021, but the second Trump administration reinstated 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium, giving U.S. steel mills an edge over European ones.

U.S. tariffs on steel are positive for Acerinox, Chief Executive Bernardo Velazquez told Reuters, as the company now produces more in the U.S. than in Europe, and he sees greater guarantees and stability for the steel industry there in the future.

"The U.S. gives us stability, it allows us to think more about the future, that is why we are growing there," Velazquez said. He also estimated that energy costs were around half cheaper than those of its Spanish mills.

Velazquez called for further safeguards for European steel makers to stop production that previously supplied North America from flooding the European Union and hurting business there.

($1 = 0.8864 euros)

(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga, editing by Inti Landauro and Philippa Fletcher)