Day: 27 January 2022

The European coil market has been slow in terms of activity and new orders in January, but March should bring a revival.

A senior European trader confirms to Kallanish coil offers from importers into Europe have started increasing in recent days, for hot rolled coil as well as hot-dip galvanized coil. This is nevertheless happening amid very subdued buying activity in Europe.

“The new Covid wave, the difficulties of the automotive sector, the upcoming Chinese holidays and the uncertainty linked to Chinese real estate figures are having an impact on the activity of the European market. Activity continues to be very slow,” the trader observes.

March is expected to bring an upturn in sentiment. “Come March the uncertainty over Chinese real estate developments will continue, but most other uncertainty factors should be resolved and the European market could increase its activity as a consequence,” the source adds.

According to Kallanish price series, HRC import prices into southern Europe bottomed during the first half of January. Since 14 January, values have recovered by €7.50/t ($8.5), pushed by higher offers from international mills.

The European Commission has meanwhile decided not to impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of HDG and other corrosion-resistant flat products from Russia and Turkey (see separate story).

Emanuele Norsa Italy

The European Commission will not impose provisional anti-dumping measures on imports of Turkish and Russian hot-dip galvanised and other corrosion-resistant steel, it says in a circular to all interested parties.

The Commission launched the probe last June after a complaint lodged by Eurofer. Products under consideration fall under HS codes 7210 41 00, 7210 49 00, 7210 61 00, 7210 69 00, 7210 90 80, 7212 30 00, 7212 50 61, 7212 50 69, 7212 50 90, 7225 92 00, 7225 99 00, 7226 99 30 and 7226 99 70.

The Commission is continuing the investigation and asking interested parties to submit comments or questions by 10 February. Provisional duties were expected to be announced by mid-January but consultations with suppliers in Turkey are ongoing, Kallanish notes.

Turkey-based sources inform that Commission representatives are currently holding consultations with one of the country’s largest HDG producers. “We knew the decision is not likely to be made imminently, as we see the consultations are ongoing,” one source says. Russian supplier Severstal also tells Kallanish it has submitted all the necessary paperwork and is awaiting the decision.

The decision on definitive anti-dumping duties is expected in late spring, with implementation expected sometime in late summer. Some of the parties involved tell Kallanish they expect the duties to range from 12-20%.

Katya Ourakova UK

Registrations of commercial vehicles — including vans, trucks and buses — in the EU rose 9.6% in 2021 to 1.88 million units, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) Jan. 26.

Vans of up to 3.5 mt in weight dominated the sector, accounting for nearly 1.6 million registrations, up 8.5% despite six successive months of falling vehicle registrations to December.

The ACEA said the increase was “largely thanks to the low base recorded during the first half of 2020” with the full year total “far below” the pre-pandemic 2019 level of 2.1 million units.

Three of the four major EU markets saw on-year growth with Italy (15.5%) recording the highest total, followed by France (7.8%) and Germany (0.6%).

December new registrations fell 8.4% year on year to 156,000 units, which ACEA attributed largely to a drop in new van registrations with registrations of heavier trucks and buses rising.

Meanwhile, the UK posted a full-year increase of 19% to 337,495 units, with December registrations up 3.7%.

Commercial and passenger vehicles are a major consumer of metals and petrochemical products.

— Callum Colford