When I hear you talk about this, what comes into my mind is the automobile sector, where, obviously, we have very integrated supply chains between ourselves and the United States. All those players have the option of buying Canadian steel or American steel, and the reality is that they buy both. They buy specific products, depending on what their market need is and what the best product is. Canadian steel companies compete very well in getting into those supply chains.
I was at a company on Saturday— I won't say which one—touring an assembly plant. At one point, they showed us the supply base, and two of the three major Canadian steel suppliers were there, represented, and selling actively into that.
If members walked away from the meeting today with the view that the Canadian industry was not able to compete, I think that would be a wrong impression to have. The fact is, as I tried to outline in my statement at the beginning, that we do have a very competitive industry. They can compete, and they do compete, especially on a lot of the high-margin products. The mills in China often produce very raw materials. They produce higher stuff as well, but the costs of getting it to Canada.... Transportation costs on heavy products are a big consideration.
I know from a lot of the advanced manufacturing companies we meet with that they want to have local supply. It's the security of knowing that your supply chain is in Hamilton, in the Soo, or close to the 401. You can get the product, and you can get it on time. If there is a problem with it, you can get it fixed. Those are supply chain advantages that are really profound and worth keeping.
For example, with our two companies in bankruptcy, one of the points we kept hearing—and continue to hear—from advanced manufacturing firms in Ontario, Quebec, and elsewhere was how important it is to have competition even within the Canadian marketplace. They really value having those competitive sources in Canada.
I think the market is there. The challenge we've been talking about is the dumping, the oversupply issue. If you look at the price per tonne for steel, we have very competitive products in Canada. They can compete, and they can win.
On the climate change issue, you think about the cost. That's one side of it. I tend to think about the advantages of starting to brand Canadian steel more aggressively as low-carbon. More and more countries think about that—not only end suppliers or end consumers like us, but also intermediate companies that are purchasing. It matters to them that they're buying.... Lots of advanced companies we go to make a point of telling us that they buy Canadian steel and that this matters to them. It matters to them that they have that local base.
There are a lot of strong advantages for Canada going forward. In particular, I think the low-carbon footprint of our steel is one that we are probably just beginning to maximize as a real competitive advantage in the marketplace. I expect and hope that this will grow as a real differentiator that positions our firms to grow.