Day: 10 July 2025

Salzgitter has received approval for its SECURE 500 steel grade to be used for military purposes, for example, in vehicles or protective systems, Kallanish notes.

Together with subsidiary Ilsenburger Grobblech, the steelmaker has received approval from the German Military Technical Center 91 (WTD 91) in accordance with TL (Technical Delivery Conditions) 2350-0000.

During intensive testing, weldability and behaviour under fire and blast were evaluated, among other aspects. The approval confirms the high quality and reliability of the steel and underlines Salzgitter expertise as a partner for demanding defence applications, the enterprise claims.

According to the German steelmaker, by expanding its portfolio, Salzgitter is responding to growing demand from the security and defence sector.

“Ongoing and intensifying geopolitical crises have made it clear that security and freedom in Europe should not be taken for granted. Europe must be capable of defending itself. As a steel and technology group, we see it as our responsibility to make our contribution to the defence capability of our society in the form of steel for protection and armour purposes,” says corporate communications head Thorsten Moellmann, who is also responsible for the group-wide defence task force.

“A prerequisite for protection against ballistic threats is a high level of steel hardness. The greater the hardness, the better the protection capability against ballistic attack,” the company notes.

“With our state-of-the-art heat treatment facility in Ilsenburg, we can produce extremely strong steels with outstanding surface quality and dimensional accuracy,” says Ilsenburger Grobblech director for sales Thorsten Gintaut. “Our SECURE 500 steels are quenched and tempered and feature a fine martensitic microstructure. With the granting of TL approval, these steels are now also approved for use by the German Armed Forces – this is a great success after extensive testing.”

Salzgitter is already in the approval process for additional steel grades and, following final assessment by the German Armed Forces, it will be able to offer the complete SECURE product range for military applications.

Earlier, German defence manufacturer Rheinmetall said it is considering taking over one of Volkswagen’s soon-to-be-unused plants, as the arms maker seeks additional production capacity in Germany while domestic carmakers struggle (see Kallanish passim).

VW’s Osnabrück plant is one of three that will remain unused for the next two years after the automaker decided last December to halve its production capacity in the country due to slowing car sales in Europe.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria

Two South Korean steel exporters have been referred to prosecutors after being accused of illegally shipping colour-coated steel sheet to the EU by allegedly falsifying documentation to avoid paying EU safeguard duties. So reports The Korea Post citing a July 7 announcement by the Seoul Main Customs Office.

The companies allegedly falsely reported their shipments as destined for non-EU countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, while sending the goods to EU member states including Romania, Poland and Belgium, Kallanish notes.

Korean exporters must obtain approval from the Korea Iron & Steel Association (KOSA) before exporting to the EU to ensure shipments are within the EU quota allocation. However, the companies under investigation allegedly bypassed this requirement by falsifying shipping documentation, while the goods in reality entered the EU market using Korea’s duty-free quota allocation, without proper authorisation.

If fraudulent exporters exhaust the quota early through false declarations, legitimate exporters will be forced to either pay the 25% safeguard tariff or delay shipments until the next quarter’s quota becomes available, incurring additional logistics costs in the process.

The Korea Customs Service suspected a significant discrepancy between the volume of steel exports to the EU reported by South Korea’s national statistics and the import figures recorded by the EU. An investigation was launched and authorities confirmed the suspicion following reports from industry sources.

Between June 2020 and February 2023, the companies are alleged to have conducted 147 such illegal shipments, sending approximately 126,000 tonnes of steel – worth an estimated KRW 230 billion ($166 million) – to the EU market.

Investigators revealed the exporters operated a coordinated scheme that included creating internal guidelines instructing staff to omit any EU country names from official shipping documents.

A Seoul Customs official called it a “serious trade crime”, noting that such practices undermine fair competition and damage legitimate steel exporters.

Korea has a tariff-rate quota for a large number of steel product imports into the EU. Imports within the quota are exempt from tariffs, while shipments exceeding the limit are subject to a 25% tariff.

Source: EU Taric

European hot-rolled coil prices held largely stable July 8, with sentiment showing early signs of a shift as parts of the market begin exploring Q4 and even Q1 2026 coverage — despite ongoing weak consumption and holiday season slowdowns.

While overall liquidity remains thin, sources pointed to pockets of restocking interest and some movement in long-term procurement.

“Some buyers are now actively inquiring for November shipments, looking to cover their Q1 needs early,” a trading source said. “Those who’ve taken positions expect prices to rise — the ones saying prices won’t go up are typically not buying.”

Offers for imported HRC into Spain were heard at $580-590/mt CIF, duty paid, from Algeria, Turkey, and India. However, buyers continued to target lower levels of Eur470-500/mt CIF, depending on volume and origin.

Domestic tradable values in Southern Europe were heard at Eur530/mt ex-works Spain, with offers reported up to Eur550/mt. In Northern Europe, prices remained steady at Eur550/mt ex-works Ruhr, though sources indicated a persistent struggle with high stock levels and poor demand.

“Utilization across EU mills is still far from ideal,” a source said, citing estimates around 60% in 2024 and structural overcapacity. “There’s still a lot of restocking left — the question is how much Q1 demand is already covered. If that number is low, there’s potential for sharp price hikes.”

Participants also flagged the potential impact of higher duties in January, alongside CBAM costs, as likely to reshape the import landscape and bolster domestic prices in the longer term.

Platts assessed domestic HRC in Northern Europe at Eur550/mt ex-works Ruhr, stable day over day, and in Southern Europe at Eur530/mt ex-works Italy, down Eur5 day over day.

Platts assessed imported HRC at Eur475/mt CIF South Europe and Eur480/mt CIF Antwerp, both stable day over day.

Devbrat Saha

European Commission and UK representatives are in talks with the US to lower their steel tariffs, as the July 9 deadline was extended to Aug. 1 and US President Donald Trump announced that copper, another key metal entering the US from other countries, is set to face a new tax of 50%.

The EC and UK governments are hoping to strike deals before Aug. 1, as Trump mentioned on July 8 that talks were progressing with the EU and that he was “probably two days off” from sending a letter unveiling a new tariff rate. In the UK, steelmakers are waiting to find out if they will be able to avoid tariffs of 50% on their products.

“The deal struck between the Prime Minister and Trump two months ago is still hanging in the balance, leaving the UK steel industry in the realm of continued uncertainty,” Gareth Stace, Director-General of UK Steel, said on July 9. “It remains unclear whether, and when, our second-largest export market will fully reopen, and when our US customers can confidently place orders knowing they will receive the agreed zero-tariff rate.

“The UK steel industry urgently needs confirmation from the US administration that our tariff rate will remain at 25% while the final details of the deal are resolved, rather than escalating to 50%. While a confirmed 25% rate would offer some short-term certainty, only a swift resolution will deliver the clarity and relief we urgently require,” Stace concluded.

In May, the US and UK agreed that the US would allow UK steel and aluminum into the US free of tariffs, as part of a wider deal that already saw US export tariffs for the UK’s automotive and aerospace sectors slashed.

From June 30, the agreement — called the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal — allowed UK motor manufacturers to sell up to 100,000 vehicles to the US at a tariff of 10%, while tariffs on UK aerospace exports have been cut to zero. In return, the UK has scrapped tariffs on beef and US ethanol imports. However, nothing has yet moved on steel and aluminum.

“Europe still has 50% export tariffs to the US; hopefully, this blanket tariff will change soon, but it is not clear when and by how much. Overall, it is very difficult to do business in this mess,” a source from an Italian mill said.

The US is the UK’s second-largest export market for steel. According to data from UK Steel, the UK exported 180,000 mt of semi-finished and finished steel to the US in 2024, worth GBP370 million. This accounted for 7% of the UK’s total steel exports by volume and 9% by value.

The US is also the EU’s second-largest export market for steel. According to data from Comex, the EU exported around 2.7 million mt of finished steel products to the US in 2024 out of a total of 16.7 million mt of exports.