UK publishes revised Procurement Policy Note for steel procurement
Italian HRC prices move higher with support from new EU import safeguards
Weglokoks announces PLN 500 Million investment Plan for Poland’s steel industry
European Commission launches consultation on CBAM certificate trading rules
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a draft implementing regulation under Regulation (EU) 2023/956, establishing detailed rules governing the sale and repurchase of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) certificates, the operation of the common central platform, applicable fees and the interaction between the platform and the CBAM Registry.
Beginning in February 2027, authorized CBAM declarants will purchase CBAM certificates through a common central platform managed by the European Commission in cooperation with the member states under an agreement that entered into force on December 16, 2025.
CBAM Registry and common central platform to have separate functions
Under the draft regulation, the CBAM Registry and the common central platform will perform separate functions.
The CBAM Registry will serve as the electronic system for submitting CBAM declarations and managing the issuance, holding, surrender and cancellation of CBAM certificates.
The common central platform will be responsible exclusively for financial transactions related to the purchase and repurchase of CBAM certificates, including payment processing and settlement. According to the Commission, this separation is intended to improve operational efficiency, strengthen digital security and reduce unnecessary data exposure.
Member states to sell certificates without quantitative limits
Member states will sell and repurchase CBAM certificates solely through their designated competent authorities.
Unlike the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the CBAM will not function as a cap-and-trade system. Consequently, there will be no limit on the number of certificates member states may sell, and they will not be permitted to delay or restrict sales. Each certificate will be assigned exclusively to the purchasing declarant, carry a unique identification number and will not be transferable or tradable.
Draft regulation sets purchase and repurchase procedures
To purchase CBAM certificates, authorized declarants must submit a purchase request through the CBAM Registry specifying between 1 and 99,999 certificates, together with the applicable certificate price, fees and total payment amount. Each request will receive a unique identification number and cannot be amended after submission, although it may be withdrawn before payment is completed. Certificates will only be created in the declarant’s CBAM account after the common central platform confirms receipt of payment.
Authorized CBAM declarants will generally be permitted to submit one repurchase request per year, except where requests arise following a review of CBAM declarations. Repurchase requests cannot be amended or withdrawn after submission and will only be accepted if the declarant has complied with the annual surrender obligation by September 30 or qualifies for the exemption provided under Regulation (EU) 2023/956. Competent authorities must approve eligible repurchase requests within 42 calendar days following April 1, July 1 or November 1, subject to the availability of sufficient funds.
Euro-only payments and €0.05 certificate fee proposed
All purchase and repurchase payments must be made exclusively in euro. Payments received for certificate purchases must be transferred to the relevant member state by the end of the same calendar day, while repurchase payments must be transferred in cleared funds to the declarant’s nominated bank account. The exclusive use of the euro is intended to eliminate exchange-rate risks and ensure consistency between the CBAM Registry and the common central platform.
The operation of the common central platform will be financed through fees paid by authorized CBAM declarants. A fixed fee of €0.05 per CBAM certificate sold will apply regardless of the certificate price or the member state involved. The fee will be collected at the time of purchase and, during the initial procurement contract, transferred monthly to the European Commission. No additional fees or charges may be imposed on the purchase or repurchase of CBAM certificates.
Reporting, data retention and legal remedies defined
Information relating to purchases, repurchases, payment status and member state identification must be exchanged through a secure electronic interface in a reliable and near-immediate manner. The common central platform will submit daily reconciliation reports, monthly operational reports, monthly fee management reports and annual activity reports to the Commission. Competent authorities must designate the bank accounts used for certificate sales and repurchases, while transaction data may only be retained for five years following the calendar year in which it was recorded.
Finally, decisions concerning the purchase or repurchase of CBAM certificates may be challenged before national courts in the member state where the authorized CBAM declarant is established. The common central platform will also be required to establish an extra-judicial complaints mechanism.
The regulation is scheduled to enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and will apply from February 1, 2027.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
German industry warns rising rail track access charges threaten industrial competitiveness
According to a joint statement released by the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), the Fuels and Energy Association (en2x), the German Paper Industry Association, the German Steel Federation (WV Stahl) and the Association of Freight Wagon Owners (VPI), rising and increasingly unpredictable rail track access charges are placing significant pressure on rail freight transport and undermining the competitiveness of German industry.
The associations urged policymakers to rapidly implement a reform of the track access charge system and introduce effective short-term relief measures, warning that the draft federal budget for 2027 would further increase pressure by reducing track access charge subsidies by €65 million.
Industry calls for predictable rail track access charges
The associations stated that increasing rail network costs are affecting both railway operators and industrial companies, while persistent quality problems, delays and unreliability on the rail network are further straining freight transport.
They argued that additional increases in rail track access charges are no longer sustainable under current market conditions and stressed that the lack of predictability in future charges is creating particular difficulties for investment planning and long-term logistics decisions.
German associations seek reform of rail charging system
According to the statement, a comprehensive reform of the rail track access charge system is required to ensure long-term, predictable and reliable charge development and a fair allocation of costs between passenger and freight rail transport. The associations also called for legal safeguards to improve pricing predictability and emphasized that any increase in charges must be accompanied by measurable improvements in the quality and efficiency of the rail network.
The organizations stated that initial measures should take effect from the timetable change in December 2026. They called for continued cost-effective subsidies for rail track access charges at least at current levels and opposed any additional financial burdens, including higher charges for heavy freight trains or hazardous goods transport. The five organizations emphasized that companies require planning certainty, stating that reliable and affordable rail track access charges are essential for investment decisions and the competitiveness of rail freight transport.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
ICT International: EU steel policies risk undermining Europe’s industrial base
According to Gianluca Gennari, administrator at Italy-based consulting company ICT International and Trading Company, every European business leader should ask whether Europe genuinely intends to protect its industrial base or is instead accelerating its own decline. He argued that, over recent years, the European Commission has introduced an increasingly complex framework of environmental regulations, trade restrictions and compliance mechanisms, claiming they are intended to strengthen sustainability and protect the European steel industry.
However, he contended that the outcome has been the opposite. Following the introduction of the Green Deal, Green Steel, taxes on raw materials, safeguard measures, import quotas and, finally, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), policies were implemented without a sufficient understanding of how the steel market operates or of the needs of Europe’s extensive manufacturing supply chain.
CBAM confusion: a carbon tax without clear rules
Gennari stated that CBAM represents the latest example of what he describes as Brussels’ fragmented industrial policy. He noted that the EU acknowledged in 2025 that the final benchmark values required to calculate CBAM costs would not be available before the beginning of 2026, forcing companies to make purchasing decisions without knowing the future cost of their imports. Although benchmark values have since been published, he argued that they remain too high to be practical for commercial decision-making, leaving steel consumers dependent on emissions data declared by steel producers.
He pointed out that these emissions must ultimately be verified by EU-accredited certification bodies, yet those bodies have still not been designated and may not be appointed until mid-2027. According to Gennari, this means companies will have been purchasing steel for around 18 months without knowing its actual regulatory cost. He added that fluctuating carbon certificate prices, an uncertain calculation methodology, an incomplete certification framework and the requirement for importers to make financial provisions for obligations that cannot yet be accurately calculated create conditions under which businesses cannot operate efficiently.
Import quotas: an industry frozen by regulatory uncertainty
He also argued that the situation has been aggravated by the new safeguard import quotas. According to Gennari, European companies waited for months to learn what import volumes would be available, how quotas would be allocated, when the new system would take effect, whether Russian and Belarusian quotas would be redistributed and whether country-specific quotas would be introduced. These questions were answered only on June 30, 2026, one day before the new rules entered into force.
He stated that, in an industry characterized by long production cycles and purchasing decisions made months in advance, such regulatory uncertainty inevitably leads to commercial paralysis. During the second quarter of 2026, many companies in Italy’s steel supply chain reportedly experienced business volumes declining by as much as 50 percent year on year, while purchases were postponed, production slowed, investment decisions were delayed and inventories continued to be depleted without replenishment. Gennari highlighted that this paralysis resulted not from market fundamentals but from regulatory uncertainty created by European institutions.
Brussels still fails to understand what Europe really is
According to Gennari, the underlying mistake is cultural before it is economic. He emphasized that Europe is neither a mining nor an energy superpower and cannot rely on abundant domestic raw materials in the way that the US, China, India or Russia can. Instead, he described Europe as a world-class manufacturing platform whose prosperity depends on thousands of companies that process, transform and add value to steel products, generating employment, innovation and competitiveness. However, he said that Brussels continues to regard imported coils and semi-finished steel products as a threat while overlooking the fact that such imports enable European manufacturers to remain competitive internationally.
The numbers nobody wants to acknowledge
Gennari noted that Europe’s primary steel industry employs around 300,000 people, while downstream steel processing and manufacturing industries employ nearly three million. He stated that these figures demonstrate where Europe’s strategic interests lie and warned that protecting only primary steel production while penalizing companies that consume steel risks weakening millions of jobs, thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises and one of the most important pillars of European manufacturing.
The real threat is not semi-finished steel
He further argued that imported coils and semi-finished steel products are not the real threat because they supply European factories. Instead, he said that steel-intensive finished products imported from outside the EU continue to enter the European market with relatively few restrictions, replacing European manufacturers and putting downward pressure on prices. According to Gennari, this is where unfair competition exists and where policy measures should be focused.
The solutions already exist
According to Gennari, Europe’s steel value chain is not seeking protectionism or special treatment but rather clear, predictable and consistent rules. He stated that the industry requires realistic import quotas based on actual market demand, finalized and timely CBAM rules, stronger controls and appropriate restrictions on steel-intensive finished products imported from third countries, and continuous dialogue between policymakers and industry representatives.
The risk of industrial suicide
Gennari concluded by arguing that Europe continues to portray itself as a global leader in climate policy while steadily losing competitiveness, investment and industrial capacity. He stated that industry requires planning, planning requires certainty, and uncertainty creates fear, paralysis and decline. In his view, the crisis facing the European steel sector has become a genuine industrial emergency, and the key question is no longer whether European industry can adapt to new regulations, but whether there will still be an industry left to protect once Europe finally determines what those regulations will be.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
Assofermet Acciai: Safeguard measures and weak demand push steel prices higher
According to the latest monthly market report issued by Assofermet on July 10, 2026, the introduction of the new EU safeguard measures has caused significant uncertainty among market participants, mainly due to the sharp reduction in quotas, the new rules governing the “Other Countries” quotas, and the fact that the final provisions were announced only shortly before the measures entered into force.
Carbon flat steel: tighter availability and further price increases expected
In the carbon flat steel segment, concerns are growing over the availability of the grades and volumes required by the European manufacturing sector. According to initial estimates from market participants, the quotas that can realistically be used could fall by 60-70 percent, taking into account the risk of the 50 percent duty, existing antidumping measures, and the allocation of quotas to countries that traditionally export only limited volumes of steel to the EU.
Assofermet warned that the new framework could lead to higher costs for European industry without any corresponding improvement in demand, which remained weak in June. After temporarily suspending sales in early July, Italian producers returned to the market with widespread price increases. The association therefore expects steel prices to follow a gradual but prolonged upward trend.
Stainless flat steel: demand continues to weaken
Demand in the stainless flat steel segment slowed further in June, with no signs of a recovery in the short term. The decline in consumption is also being linked to the progressive relocation of manufacturing activity outside the EU.
According to Assofermet, trade defense measures are restricting imports of coils and plates, while finished products and components manufactured in third countries continue to enter the European market more easily.
Stockholding segment: June marks a setback
Following the improvement recorded in May, June saw a fresh decline in sales, both in volume and value terms. The market continues to be characterized by weak demand, high inventory levels and limited trading activity.
Long steel products declined both year on year and month on month, affected by weakness in the automotive and heavy manufacturing sectors, as well as by the absence of significant new construction projects.
The picture for flat products was more mixed. Compared with June 2025, the segment recorded an improvement, while volumes declined compared with May. Some purchases were brought forward ahead of July 1, in anticipation of a price-supportive effect from the new safeguard measures.
In hollow sections, sales of hot rolled products increased, while cold formed products were negatively affected by lower order volumes from the light manufacturing and subcontracting sectors.
Stainless steel: tubular and long products weaken, flat products recover
In the stainless steel segment, tubular and long products recorded the sharpest declines. Stainless flat products moved in the opposite direction, supported by selective demand from the food and chemical-pharmaceutical sectors.
Offers from European producers are consolidating at their highest levels since the beginning of the year. However, distributors are still struggling to pass higher costs on to end-users. Margins therefore remain under pressure, and September could prove decisive for the medium-term economic sustainability of the sector.
Tinplate: market divided over the outlook
In the tinplate segment, the reduction in import quotas to around 400,000 mt, equivalent to approximately 20 percent of European consumption, is generating mixed views among market participants.
Some operators believe that current inventory levels and available production capacity will be sufficient to prevent supply shortages. Others expect a possible recovery in demand and higher European prices, also supported by rising raw material costs, particularly tin.
Outlook: prices supported, demand recovery unlikely before the fourth quarter
Assofermet expects trading activity to remain weak in July and August, due to the seasonal slowdown and scheduled summer shutdowns at steel mills. The new safeguard measures are expected to support domestic prices, while a meaningful recovery in demand may not materialize before the fourth quarter.
From October 1, importers will also be required to provide documentation on the country where imported steel was melted and poured, adding further operational complexity for importers and distributors. Distribution margins are therefore expected to remain under pressure, amid potentially higher purchasing prices and still-selective downstream demand.
European domestic steel HRC prices edge up; Southern European market stronger
Prices for steel hot-rolled coil in the Northern European and Italian domestic markets edged upward on Monday July 13, with deal prices unusually aligned in both regions.
This was driven by the tighter import availability, which has had a stronger effect on market conditions in Southern Europe, trade sources told Fastmarkets on Monday.
Normally, HRC deal prices in Italy were at least €10-20 per tonne below those in Northern Europe. After the new EU import quotas came into force on July 1, market participants said that European producers, including Italian and German mills, were pushing for higher prices, but buyers were resisting the increases.
In Northern Europe, offers were reported in the range of €700-740 ($800-846) per tonne ex-works for September-October delivery, but no tonnages were traded due to limited buying at those prices.
A buyer reported an indication of workable prices at €700-710 per tonne ex-works, saying that “price and quantity expectations for September onward are positive,” while adding that most market participants were refraining from third-country imports.
A second buyer reported a deal at €710 per tonne ex-works and added that “activity seems to be picking up, with a rare but understandable situation where [the] South is doing better than the North,” explained by Southern Europe’s greater dependence on imported HRC.
A third buyer reported an offer from a major producer at €740 per tonne delivered (€725 per tonne ex-works) for September-October delivery, with no tonnage traded due to the same lack of buying interest. The same producer was offering HRC at €770 per tonne delivered (€755 per tonne ex-works) in Southern Europe, driven by stronger market dynamics.
The same buyer source also reported HRC offers in Germany at €700-720 per tonne ex-works for October delivery. These were included in the index because they were in line with the latest deals heard in the market.
Some price points fell outside Fastmarkets’ methodology standard delivery window (as long as six weeks) but were considered in the index because no offers for earlier-delivery material were heard in the market.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €708.33 per tonne on July 13, up by €3.33 per tonne from €705.00 per tonne on July 10.
The index was up by €15.20 per tonne week on week and up by €23.12 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, a supplier reported concluding some transactions at €710 per tonne ex-works for material scheduled for September delivery. This was up from previous deals reported at €685-690 per tonne ex-works on July 6.
Meanwhile, a buyer said on Monday that mills were pushing for higher prices and reported that workable offers were “no lower than €700 per tonne ex-works,” while buyers’ target prices for September-delivery material remained at €670-690 per tonne ex-works, depending on order volume.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ assessment of the daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy, was €695.21 per tonne on Monday, up by €2.40 per tonne from €692.81 per tonne on Friday.
The index was up by €16.46 per tonne week on week and up by €7.71 per tonne month on month.
Trade sources said that HRC import activity has remained subdued despite the tightening supply outlook, but reported a potential booking from a major Italian buyer for 30,000-40,000 tonnes of Indian HRC around €570 per tonne CFR on Monday.
Author: Ivelina Nikolova
Polish long steel prices narrow upward despite thin liquidity, subdued demand
Polish domestic long steel prices narrowed upward in the week to Friday July 10, despite continued weak demand and limited purchasing.
Trade sources told Fastmarkets that buyers were largely consuming existing inventories rather than placing new orders, citing high rebar prices and a prevailing wait-and-see approach.
Market participants also reported elevated stock levels at mills, with some producers considering production cuts in response to subdued market conditions.
“There is little demand, which is unexpected because we are in the middle of the construction season,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.
Tradable prices for rebar were reported at 2,700-2,720 zloty ($714-719) per tonne CPT.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland, narrowed upward to 2,700-2,790 zloty per tonne on Friday, from 2,650-2,790 zloty per tonne the previous week.
Wire rod trading remained limited. Tradable prices were reported at 3,000-3,200 zloty per tonne delivered.
Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, narrowed upward to 3,000-3,200 zloty per tonne on Friday, from 2,920-3,200 zloty per tonne the previous week.