Day: 30 June 2020

The European Commission’s definitive adjusted Safeguard Measures operative from 1st July 2020 have just been published in today’s Official Journal.

The Implementing Regulation can be accessed on the link below.  Then, scroll down and then click on the item shown against Page 27, which will then open this Regulation.

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/894 OF 29 JUNE 2020 AMENDING IMPLEMENTATION REGULATION (EU) 2019/159 IMPOSING DEFINITIVE SAFEGUARD MEASURES AGAINST IMPORTS OF CERTAIN STEEL PRODUCTS

eur-lex.europa.eu

The changes published by the Commission today (in an Implementing Regulation) fully take account of the special circumstances prevailing in the market due to the coronavirus crisis as well as expected developments. They will ensure that the gradual resumption of activity and return to normality takes place in an orderly manner. The adjustments made in managing the quotas will be effective in deterring potentially harmful stockpiling behaviour by any foreign exporters that may try to sell very high amounts of steel in the EU market in an opportunistic manner to the detriment of the EU steel industry.

Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan said: “With this package in place, we can effectively save thousands of jobs in the EU steel industry from a very difficult situation that could arise due to the current crisis. In the difficult circumstances that we witness, the Commission must be acting decisively, in full respect of the rules, and that is exactly what we are doing. We also received very strong support from Member States for these measures that, I am convinced, will bring about substantive benefits for EU producers. Of course, our action will not stop just here. The close monitoring of the market must continue and we will not hesitate to put forward further adjustments if that’s what the evolving situation will require.”

The adjustments strike an appropriate balance between the legitimate interests of all the interested parties within the EU. They can shield the EU steel industry from the eventual effects of trade diversion in a way that is most adapted to the current circumstances, while ensuring sufficient supply for the steel-using industries in Europe. Since the launch of the review in February 2020, the Commission has considered 300 submissions received from stakeholders, consulted EU Member States and received their wide support on the proposed changes.

More specifically, the main changes are the following:

• Country-specific quotas will be made available in quarterly and not annual allotments. This will help ensure a more stable flow of imports at this stage and will minimise the risk of short-term import surges.
• A new country-specific quota will be introduced for hot-rolled flat (category 1) steel.
• Access to the residual quota for countries that have previously exhausted their country-specific quota will be only permitted to the extent necessary to respond to demand. This will help ensure equitable access to the EU market for smaller exporting countries.
• The list of developing countries excluded from the measures is now updated on the basis of the most recent stable statistical data (2019).

The measures remain fully in line with the EU’s international commitments, and as provided for by the applicable WTO rules, the affected non-EU countries were consulted earlier this month.

The Commission will continue to carefully monitor the steel market and import flows to ensure that the measures remain effective. If necessary, another review may still be considered in the course of the remaining year of measures.

As part of its efforts to restore a level playing field for European steel producers, the EU is also currently co-chairing the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity and will work for robust conclusions and recommendations in this regard to be submitted to the G20 leaders in November.

Background

The Commission introduced the initial safeguard measures on steel imports in July 2018. The measures aim to prevent economic damage for European steel producers, given the risk of import increases related to the introduction of trade restrictions by the US on steel and aluminum products. The Commission confirmed the initial temporary measures in early 2019 for a period until end of June 2021. The first review taking account of the market evolution was concluded in September 2019. The adjustments announced today result from the second review initiated in February 2020.

trade.ec.europa.eu

Workers at units of Tata Steel IJmuiden restarted strikes on Sunday, having halted strike action the previous Wednesday, Kallanish learns from trade unions.

Workers decided to give the company time to respond to their requests, pausing demonstrations and strikes from Wednesday last week. Nevertheless, the company did not issue a final position on workers’ demands and new strikes started on Sunday at the docks of the steelmaking plant.

The ongoing strikes are now hitting the mill for the third consecutive week and are reported to be the first of these actions seen in almost three decades. According to trade unions, “…more than 20 teams and departments have left all their work,” during the last three weeks of intermittent strikes.

“Since Tata Steel Europe announced last year that it would reorganise on behalf of the Indian owners, the company has been unsettled,” says the FNV labour federation. “Employees of the profitable Tata Steel Netherlands fear that they will have to integrate with the loss-making Tata Steel UK. In addition, they want, among other things, that the management guarantees there will be no redundancies and that no jobs will be cut until at least 2026.”

The ceo of Acciai Speciali (AST) Terni Massimiliano Burelli has told Italian media that two foreign groups together have expressed their interest to buy out AST, the Italian specialty steel maker controlled by ThyssenKrupp. Two Italian companies, Italian steelmaker Arvedi and re-roller Marcegaglia have also shown an interest but the two foreign groups have asked to remain anonymous.

In an interview with local broadsheet Il Messaggero, Burelli has also expressed a negative opinion about the interest of AST’s major client Marcegaglia. “The Group Marcegaglia has written a letter to ThyssenKrupp showing interest for AST… I would like to remind the Marcegaglia siblings that other letters of interest have been received and introducing themselves to the authorities and the unions here in the city (of Terni) doesn’t mean anything. Instead, from a certain standpoint, it complicates things”, Burelli said. He referred to a visit that Antonio and Emma Marcegaglia made last week to the local authorities and the unions to introduce their company. They also illustrated the possible industrial synergies that could take place if Marcegaglia managed to secure Terni.

A union source close to the matter tells Kallanish that unions are not prejudiced regarding any buyer and will consider the industrial plan, investments and job creation but will not accept any job cuts.

Thyssenkrupp is seeking either a partnership or a sale for its Italian subsidiary. Pursuing its restructuring strategy, the company is considering for certain assets “… the best prospects for the future – a place under the thyssenkrupp umbrella, in a partnership or outside the company. With this reassessment of the portfolio, we have taken some difficult decisions that were long overdue and will now implement them systematically. thyssenkrupp will emerge smaller but stronger from the transformation”, Chief Executive Officer Martina Merz said in a note sent to Kallanish (see Kallanish 19 May).

Turkey has imposed new additional customs duties on more than 400 products of up to 20%, including some steel products, like sections, non-alloy/stainless wire and pipe & tube fittings.

Additional customs duties set for steel products range 5-17% and will be readjusted on October 1, S&P Global Platts observed from a presidential decree dated June 28.

The new duties are aimed at reducing the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Turkish economy and to protect domestic industry from import pressure.

Turkey also imposed some additional customs duties on more than 800 products on May 20, including some steel products like hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and pipe, as Platts has reported.

As EU countries and countries with which Turkey has free trade agreements are exempted from these additional duties, the effect of these duties is expected to be limited.

Turkey is also expected to impose retaliatory duties against EU steel, based on the reciprocity principle, in response to the EU’s move for additional measures against EU imports of Turkish steel.

Turkey informed the World Trade Organization in this regard on May 25. But, despite Turkish mills’ expectations, no decree about it has been published so far by the government.

— Cenk Can

En el siguiente enlace pueden acceder a la edición de Junio de nuestra revista: INFOACERO JUNIO 2020

A continuación destacamos algunos de sus contenidos:

1. Opinión – D. Gerardo García – Junta Directiva de  la UAHE. 
2. Evolución del Índice de Precios de Productos Siderúrgicos – UAHE.
3. Ayudas Pymes: programa de apoyos Covid-19.
4. Formación UAHE: 4ª Edición curso “Sistemas de Gestión de Almacenes”-Aula Virtual
5. Construcción: Resumen Informe Euroconstruct- Junio 2020
6. Eventos: webinar Eurometal- “After Covid-19: survival strategies for Steel distribution, SSC and steel trade”