Category: Latest Updates

The EU has widened its sanctions on Russia and Belarus under broader packages covering finance, trade, transport, services and anti-circumvention measures, with steel and metals among the sectors impacted, Kallanish notes.

The new measures tighten controls on parts of the steel supply chain by targeting revenue from steel scrap, metals, minerals and industrial raw materials, while restricting exports of steel articles, welding consumables, metalworking tools, lubricants and related industrial equipment that could support Russian or Belarusian capacity.

For Russia, the package adds import bans including CN 7204 ferrous waste and scrap, CN 7404 copper waste and scrap, CN 7503 nickel waste and scrap, and CN 7602 aluminium waste and scrap.

Export restrictions have also been expanded to include CN 7318 screws, bolts, nuts, rivets and washers of iron or steel, CN 7325 other cast articles of iron or steel, CN 8311 welding wire, rods, electrodes and similar metal-deposition products, and CN 8457 10 machining centres for working metal.

For Belarus, the measures similarly add import bans on CN 2601 iron ores and concentrates and CN 2619 slag, dross, scalings and other waste from the manufacture of iron or steel. While export restrictions now cover CN 7318 iron or steel fasteners, CN 7325 other cast articles of iron or steel, and CN 8311 welding and brazing products, alongside metalworking tools and industrial-use lubricants.

Some measures include transitional wind-down periods for pre-existing contracts, including a Belarus exemption until 25 July 2026 for certain newly listed goods.

Tata Steel Nederland has started trial operations at the direct sheet plant (DSP) at its works in Ijmuiden, after the plant exceeded emission standards for chrome 6.

The DSP was shut down on 3 April after measurements showed that the emissions were well above the allowed standard.

Tata has been investigating the cause of the overrun in recent weeks and reports that it has been found with the required adjustments being made, Kallanish learns from regional authority North Sea Canal Area Environment Service (ODNZKG).

The steelmaker started heating up the installation on 21 April with the trial runs being carried out from 22 April exclusively for the purpose of carrying out measurements.

After the trial runs, the DSP will be stopped again, and will remain so until ODNZKG has determined whether the installation can be put back into use.

At Ijmuiden’s DSP, liquid steel is transformed into hot rolled steel in one continuous process. The resulting product is used in electrical components such as slats for electric motors and transformer parts, but also in car seats, furniture and façade panels. It has the capacity for 1.4 million tonnes/year.

The European domestic market for steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained quiet on Friday April 24, with no new trades heard during the day. Both buyers and sellers were waiting for more clarity on the new EU trade regime, and especially the country-specific import-quota allowances that will come into force on July 1, 2026.

Availability of material scheduled for delivery in June was limited, with two German producers reported to be inactive in the spot market because of strong order backlogs. Meanwhile, a supplier in the Benelux region was expected to restart production next week after a maintenance outage.

Estimates of workable prices were heard in the range of €700-720 ($819-842) per tonne ex-works, which was reflected in Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, assessed at €710.00 per tonne on Friday.

The index was up by €1.67 per tonne week on week, but down by €6.00 per tonne month on month.

The market leader had yet to announce its offers for July-delivery volumes and other mills in the region had not given any firm offers either.

The Italian market was also very quiet during the week. Market sources in the country estimated achievable prices for HRC to be around €700 per tonne ex-works, and local sellers kept their offers at that price or higher.

So Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €700.00 per tonne ex-works on April 24, stable day on day.

The index was also stable in a week on week comparison but was up by €2.50 per tonne month on month.

But while the domestic market was quiet in Europe, market sources reported two Turkish cargoes being sold to the region.

One Turkish supplier was heard selling its cargo at $640-650 per tonne FOB, while another seller was reported selling 15,000 tonnes of material at €590 per tonne CFR, including anti-dumping duty.

In Central Europe, HRC prices decreased in the week to April 22 with buyers resisting higher offers from mills.

The drop was despite recent increases in production costs as a result of soaring prices for energy and for raw materials linked to the US-Iran war.

This week offers from mills were reported around €695-715 per tonne ex-works, while estimates of workable prices were heard around €700 per tonne ex-works.

No new trading was reported during the assessment period.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Central Europe, was €695-715 per tonne on Wednesday, falling from €700-720 pert tonne the previous week.

Prices for domestic and imported heavy steel plate in Europe increased in the week to Thursday April 23, supported by active trading, sources told Fastmarkets.

Slab import prices to Italy stabilized during the week, having increased since the start of March, after the US/Israel attacks on Iran and its wide-ranging response across the region started the conflict in the Middle East on February 28. The conflict has disrupted global trade ever since by pushing up energy-related costs for all industries, including the steel sector and European re-rollers.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel slab, import, cif Italy, was $600-620 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged week on week.

Southern Europe
Deals for domestic heavy steel plate in Italy were heard at €750-790 ($877-924) per tonne ex-works, widening up from €750-780 in the week to April 16.

One producer told Fastmarkets that €750 ex-works was applicable to larger orders (of more than 1,000 tonnes), while €770-780 ex-works applied to medium-sized tonnages, all for June-July delivery.

The latest offers in Italy were reported at €800-830 per tonne ex-works on April 16, but no transactions have been confirmed at that level since then.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was €750-790 per tonne on Thursday, widening up from €750-780 on April 16.

Import deals for steel plate from Indonesia were heard at €780-800 per tonne delivered-duty-paid (DDP) Spain, in the week to Thursday, but were not included in Fastmarkets’ CFR price assessment.

Two sources indicated that import prices were around €700-750 per tonne CFR into Southern Europe, but said that while there have been no recent offers to Italy on a CFR basis, offers were now likely to be no lower than €700 per tonne CFR to Italy.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel plate (8-40mm), import, cfr main port Southern Europe, was €700-750 per tonne on Thursday, up from €664-700 on April 16.

Northern Europe
In Germany, fresh deals for domestic steel plate were reported at €840-860 per tonne ex-works in the week to Thursday, up from €800-830 per tonne ex-works in the week to April 16.

One trader said that only one producer had been offering material at lower prices, while a distributor reported bids to that producer at €800-810 per tonne ex-works.

The trader said that, despite there being “no boom in orders,” buyers were still booking steel plate, while the distributor told Fastmarkets that “stockholders had considerably reduced their inventories by the end of March.”

German mills have been citing higher production costs since the escalation of tensions in the Middle East conflict pushed up energy costs.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €840-860 per tonne on Thursday, up from €800-830 on April 16.

Steel plate import deals from Indonesia to Antwerp were reported €780-800 per tonne DDP, sources said.

In the week to April 16, Indonesia had been offering plate at €725 per tonne CFR Antwerp, but no fresh deals were heard at that level in the week to Thursday.

Sources said the latest relevant import prices into Northern Europe were around  €700-750 per tonne CFR.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel plate (8-40mm), import, cfr main port Northern Europe, was €700-750 per tonne on Thursday, up from €700-725 a week earlier.

The European green steel market continued to show fragmented demand with spot activity remaining close to nil amid high premiums, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday April 23.

Demand for steel produced with reduced carbon emissions footprint across Europe remained patchy and regionalized.

A mill source reported an inquiry for 200 tonnes for green steel from a construction company, noting increased amount of inquiries for green material from
construction sector in general lately, but noted that high premiums remained a stumbling block.

“Some buyers inquire for green steel, but refuse to pay three-digit premiums, noting that other steelmakers can sell green steel cheaper,” an electric-arc furnace (EAF)-based green steelmaker said. “But here we once again stumble over the lack of clarity on green steel definition in Europe. Naturally, steel with carbon footprint of 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel is cheaper than steel with carbon footprint below 1 tonne of CO2 per tonne of steel. But these are two different products,” they added.

Under Fastmarkets’ framework, European green steel refers to material produced with combined Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions not exceeding 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel.

Suppliers reported offers for premiums for material witch such specs around €200 ($234) per tonne, with one supplier even aiming for €300 per tonne.

Achievable premiums, however, were lower — at €150-170 per tonne, sources said, and mainly achieved for project business rather than spot sales.

Overall, industry sources continued to report project-driven demand for green steel from construction and wind sectors, as well as from automakers and white good producers, while spot activity remained negligible.

“The cost of steel in a car or in a washing machine is relatively low, so it’s affordable. For distributors and steel-service centres buying green steel for stock is simply freezing money,” a buyer in Germany said.

Buyers estimated workable green steel premiums for spot market from €0 to €100 per tonne during the assessment week.

A buyer source said that green steel premiums in the three-digit range were attainable only in project-driven transactions, noting that higher premiums are typically limited to public procurement and are otherwise unaffordable.

An automotive end-user told Fastmarkets it is locking in green steel through offtake agreements with upcoming DRI-EAF producers, maintaining that currently available scrap-based green steel is not “fully green.”

Therefore, the green steel uptake across the market remains gradual and fragmented.

Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment of the green steel domestic, flat-rolled, differential to HRC index, exw Northern Europe was stable at €100-160 per tonne on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ assessment of the flat steel reduced carbon emissions differential, exw Northern Europe was €0-50 per tonne on Thursday, also stable week on week.

For steel produced in blast furnaces with reduced carbon emissions of 1.4-1.8 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel, offers for premiums were reported at €70 per tonne during the assessment week.

Buyers’ estimates of tradable prices were around €0-50 per tonne, with no new trades reported.

A source on the sell side indicated that, in certain cases, transactions for such material can be concluded without a premium for marketing reasons.

Poland’s steel industry is fairly upbeat despite challenging external forces, thanks to supportive regulation and the revival of a national steelmaking icon. However, a reduction in energy costs, among the highest in Europe, and protection for downstream steel users will be critical to the industry’s future survival.

This was the conclusion of the steel industry panel during Friday’s European Economic Congress in Katowice attended by Kallanish.

Henryk Orczykowski, chief executive of distributor Stalprofil, even went as far to say that “the European steel industry is currently seeing its largest opportunity for future development of the 21st century” – what he called “a controversial argument”.

This is because it has been recognised by policymakers as strategic for economic development and defence. It has received support measures at EU level, such as CBAM and the new trade regime, and in Poland it is benefiting from local content regulation, the repolonisation drive, and infrastructure spending, he noted.

Adrian Sienicki, ceo of Huta Czestochowa, which went bankrupt under former owner Liberty and has since been acquired by the Polish government, said the mill has produced 500,000 tonnes of steel since “we basically got up off our knees”. Over 20% of this goes for export. “We’ve become part of the local content chain, maybe somewhat quietly,” he added, supplying product requested by domestic customers, such as for a recent naval vessel.

Downstream, as well as upstream steel industry players will need protection, with the most effective measures being “both simple and tight, regardless of products, regardless of countries [of origin]”, Sienicki said. Without specifying which, he acknowledged the will to help “the country that is victim of an attack” as a result of war, but added this should not happen at the cost of domestic industry.

Polish Union of Steel Distributors and Processors (PUDS) president Piotr Sikorski expressed concern over the growing volumes of steel-containing product imports into Europe, and the fact steelmaker-protecting trade measures have not addressed this. “We have to start thinking [about the steel market] in a complex way. This means, using the same trade defence, we need to cover all elements of the supply chain,” he noted. The simplest way would be to extend downstream the scope of measures that already exist.

While designed to support industry, the Industrial Accelerator Act does not contain a Made-in-EU mandate for steel, while it remains to be seen how local content regulation is implemented in Poland, he added.

ArcelorMittal Poland (AMP) chief financial officer and board member Adam Preiss meanwhile said his firm is “definitely happy with the introduction of CBAM” and already seeing its first positive consequences in the market. “The question is will it [also] be protection for our customers’ products, will they get driven out of the market?”

The most pressing steel industry requirement is low-cost energy, he continued. Polish energy prices exceeding €100/MWh make domestic industry uncompetitive on an EU scale, let alone globally.

Correcting earlier press reports that suggested AMP has scrapped its plan to transition to electric arc furnaces, he said the project has been “shelved” rather than cancelled and “is waiting for better times”, given uncompetitive energy costs.

Polish coke producer Koksownia Czestochowa Nowa ceo Marek Serafin pointed out it is critical to find a balance between protectionism and competitiveness – as too much of the former always hurts the latter. He suggested it is not necessary to produce everything in Poland or the EU, but what is important is to have control over key stages of the supply chain.

Coke makers are in a “system conflict” between themselves and steelmakers. “The market is open, everyone can bring in as much coke as they want, coke is not subject to ETS … there are no entry barriers,” Serafin noted. Coke makers have three ways to survive. Increase operational efficiency; look into downstream integration, through mill partnerships or long-term agreements; and lobbying, which the coke industry has not done as effectively as steelmakers, he added.

Whereas previously it was not possible to push the narrative that “there is no steel without coke”, this situation is changing now, he added. Polish coke makers could join hands to work on measures that support the industry’s continuity at least for another 10-20 years, to feed continued blast furnace steelmaking.

Author: Adam Smith

kallanish.com

 

Leading steelmaker ArcelorMittal has revised its long-term decarbonisation strategy to be “flexible and adaptive,” as outlined in the group’s 2025 Sustainability Report, with future electric-arc furnace (EAF) investments only to be reviewed upon completion of its existing transformation projects.

According to the report, the steelmaking group “intends to sequence capital-intensive decarbonisation projects to maintain financial discipline,” and so will not initiate next EAF investments until “Dunkirk is closer to completion.”

Dunkirk EAF project

In February, ArcelorMittal announced a  EUR1.3 billion investment in a new 2 mt/y EAF at its Dunkirk steel plant, now positioned to serve as a reference point for the group’s future EAF decarbonisation projects. As described in the report, the new EAF will replace the smaller of the site’s two blast furnaces (BF3) once operating at scale, expected to ramp to full production by 2030-2031 with first productions in 2029.

The new EAF will be capable of producing flat steel with emissions of 0.6t CO2e/t, fed with 60% recycled steel scrap, 20% direct-reduced iron (DRI), and 20% hot metal from the surviving blast furnace.

ArcelorMittal is also progressing European EAF upgrades or expansions in Luxembourg, Spain, and the US, and expects to add 3.4 mt of EAF steelmaking to its global operations by the end of 2026.

A new sustainability strategy?

McCloskey’s Global Green Steel Profiles and associated commentary illustrate how the scope and ambition of ArcelorMIttal’s decarbonisation commitments have reduced over time, with its Dunkirk transformation project originally to include green DRI production capacities, and projects at its German operations suspended entirely.

While the steelmaking group claims a 47% reduction in its carbon footprint since 2018, it clarifies that this reduction comes in large part from assets divested and decommissioned over the period, with said assets averaging a carbon intensity of around 2.5 t CO2e/t against the group’s post-divestment footprint of 1.79 t CO2e/t.

As outlined in the report, ArcelorMittal is “reframing” its decarbonisation strategy, “to reduce the risks and capture economic opportunities from the new value pools the energy transition brings.” The strategy is broken into three themes:

1. Renewable energy investments
2. Materials and solutions
3. Transformation of operations

Reinforced by its new “sequencing” strategy for its EAF replacements, the steelmaking group appears to be prioritising revenue generation in new low-carbon markets over its own transformation: via direct investments in renewable energy capacities in the Americas, or the development of product portfolios targeting low-carbon energy infrastructure demand (such as electrical steels).

ArcelorMittal has also relaxed its decarbonisation target across its operations to a 10% reduction by 2030, reducing ambitions from its prior 25% target, stating the new figure represents “a realistic pathway rather than an aspirational or policy-dependent target.” The group maintains its 2050 net-zero target, arguing that once “tipping points” (citing “ultra-low round-the-clock electricity prices”) are reached “the footprint of the steel industry can change quite rapidly.”

New policy pursuits?

Indeed, while ArcelorMittal has previously conditioned further decarbonisation investments in Europe on policy remedies to competitiveness burdens on the continent – namely import pressures – the steelmaker appears to have moved the goalposts again, now formally stating that no further EAF projects would be engaged until the Dunkirk project nears completion in 2029, currently limited by energy cost fundamentals.

In fact, the steelmaker explicitly celebrates recent policy efforts from the European Commission in facilitating the Dunkirk EAF investment case – “very appreciative of the time that European leaders have dedicated to developing policy that supports the industry” – and cites the EU’s incoming steel trade quota intensification and CBAM as having direct influence on the decision. Contrastingly, however, ArcelorMittal argues that the laggard pace of necessary infrastructure for the green steel transition: at-scale green hydrogen and carbon capture technologies; combined with European electricity prices well-above the $30/MWh considered viable for green H2-DRI production, mean that the “deep decarbonisation” of ironmaking in Europe remains structurally unworkable, and is “likely to remain challenging in the next decade.”

Naturally, the steelmaker does reserve the possibility of expediting any new EAF investments “should the policy environment demonstrate further positive momentum,” and expresses its support for a revision of the phase-out trajectories of both ETS free allowances, and the ETS cap itself (currently phasing out entirely by 2034, and 2039, respectively). Whilst ArcelorMittal celebrates the implementation of CBAM and supports its expansion, it qualifies this backing in stating that actual impacts from the carbon leakage instrument will remain unclear until declarations come due in 2027.

In sketching out its ‘vision’ of ideal decarbonisation progress and climate leadership – allegedly unrealised – ArcelorMittal outlines how first-moving regions (like the EU) would adopt ambitious climate policies to “set regulatory norms and stimulate innovation,” bearing higher costs, but rewarded with advantages in “technology leadership, green industry development and regulatory influence globally.”

These advantages would then compound in scaling “from policy experimentation to global deployment” before reaching “system normalization,” facilitating the passing on of decarbonisation’s higher costs to consumers, at which point decarbonisation becomes “structurally embedded in markets, rather than driven primarily by policy mandates.”

However, ArcelorMittal argues that this ideal “has not translated into reality,” seeing the EU as increasingly solitary in its policy ambitions, citing member state divisions as evidencing the fault in the EU’s positioning as “the stalwart of ambitious climate policy.” One could question whether the steelmaker’s emphasis on the need to wait for evidence of CBAM’s actual impact on markets should also apply to patience for the instrument’s stimulation of global decarbonisation and carbon pricing – especially given ETS operators have had comparatively had decades of warning on carbon cap and price trajectories.

As such, directly or indirectly, ArcelorMittal’s report appears to centralise the EU ETS as domestic steelmaking’s next favourite burden – be it on the carbon price’s role in inflating electricity costs, or in reducing the competitiveness of traditional steelmaking such to undermine decarbonisation investment capacities.

The political will to adjust the ETS appears to be there, as demonstrated by the EU’s summer review and signals from Commission and Member State leaders, but movements to relax ETS phase-out trajectories are likely to face resistance from other members of the European steelmaking lobby, further ahead in their decarbonisation timelines. These steel producers, managing either transformational or greenfield low-carbon projects, have in many cases already committed to a low-carbon investment case on the basis of existing fundamentals, including existing carbon price, EUA cap, and free allocation trajectories.

A source with knowledge of the debate tells McCloskey that domestic steelmakers are already at odds on how to position their influence as related to the upcoming ETS review, suggesting that dividing lines between the two camps fall where companies have already initiated their decarbonisation investments and projects, versus those further behind in their low-carbon transition.

Author: Benjamin Steven

opisnet.com

The EU’s agreed draft detailing upcoming intensifications to its existing steel trade protection framework will retain quota carryovers for its initial year, and apply to all trading partners, according to the draft document seen by McCloskey on 24 April.

The European Parliament and Council recently agreed via trilogue negotiations on the final compromise text to be tabled under the Commission’s original regulatory proposal, which seeks to double the bloc’s base steel tariff rate to 50%, and cut overall import quota levels by 47%. A first reading of the negotiated regulation has been tentatively scheduled for 18-21 May, and sources generally expect the measure to be adopted without issue.

Specific details on the country-specific allocations of the tightened quotas remain unavailable, and are being actively prepared in an associated implementing act. McCloskey understands that the European Commission – and industry representatives – are actively conducting article XXVIII negotiations this week in Geneva, finalising quota allocations for affected trading partners.

The tabled text does give some additional indication of how country-specific quotas will be allocated, confirming the methodology of adjusting specific 2022-2024 import market shares to 2013’s overall import balance of 13%.

Beyond that, the agreed regulation details a number of factors the Commission should be “taking into account” when designating country-specific allocations, including new considerations of:

• “the Union interest” – defined in relation to the entire steel value chain, including final consumers;
• “third country measures impacting the Union steel market”;
• whether countries are “in breach of ILO conventions or multilateral environmental agreements;”
• “information gathered in application of Article 3” – detailing the melt and pour requirements

The draft also clarifies how quotas will be administered as relates to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners, confirming that relevant counterparties will still be subject to the new steel trade framework via bilateral safeguard agreements. The Commission is authorised to adopt these implementing acts with immediate legal effect “on duly justified grounds of urgency,” if required to ensure implementation before 1 July.

Where a country receives a quota allocation via bilateral FTA safeguard, they will not receive duplicated quota allocations under the country-specific quota implementing act. If bilateral safeguards cannot be applied to an FTA, said counterparty will remain subject to the quotas set by the primary regulation.

‘Melted and poured’ evidence requirements are included in the agreed draft, but remain a traceability mechanism for now, non-determinative of quota allocations. Mill test certificates are cited as potentially sufficient as “verifiable appropriate evidence” of the country of melt and pour, with further details to come via implementing act before 31 August. By July 2028, the Commission will assess whether the country of melt and pour should become the basis of allocation to country-specific quotas, on the basis of “information collected” in the preceding years.

Most provisions under the new measure, including the overall quota volumes and country-specific allocations implementing act, will take effect from 1 July, just in time to replace the existing steel safeguard system which reaches its maximum 8-year term in June as per WTO rules.

Overall, the agreed text reflects the Commission’s original proposal, with relatively minor changes to CN codes across product categories, but no changes to the overall quota volume of 18.3 million tones, or the specific allocation to product categories.

The most prominent change relates to the administration of the quotas, specifically the quota carry-over, which the Commission originally proposed to remove from the new framework.

Quarterly quota carry-over is now back in the final negotiated text, but only for the initial July 2026-27 year, after which the carry-over will be reviewed specific to each product category, taking into account factors including import pressure and its concentration across the trading year; downstream supply availability; and average quota use over the period, taking quarterly usage above 80% as strong evidence to support maintaining the carry-over.

As regards pressure to extend the measure to steel-containing goods – to avoid simply deflecting non-competitive substitutive import pressures downstream – the Commission has expedited the review processes under the regulation:

For certain product categories, scope extension review has been brought forward to 31 December, with stakeholder consultations to begin before 1 July:

• “Tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, of cast iron” – CN codes 73 030010, 73 030090;
• “Non alloy and other alloy wire” – CN codes 72 29 2000, 72 29 9020, 72 29 9050, 72 29 9090; “Stainless Wire” – CN codes 72 23 0011, 72 23 0019, 72 23 0091, 72 23 0099;
• “Non-Alloy and Other Alloy Forged Bars” – CN codes 7214 1000, 7228 1050, 7228 4010, 7228 4090).

Further downstream scope extensions to products containing “a significant amount of steel” will be assessed by 30 June 2027, but the Commission has not been granted authority to expand the product scope without a new legislative proposal. This is likely to be deemed far too slow a pace by industry associations like EUROMETAL, which recently spearheaded a campaign – with broad support across the European steel value chain – to extend the incoming steel trade measure to all steel-containing products across CN headings 73-95 before implementation 1 July.

The Commission has been granted extensive power to vary quota volumes by product category, in so far as total allocations are not adjusted beyond 14,400,000- 22,200,00 t (from the initial allocation of 18,345,922 t). “Union interest” returns as a central factor for consideration in adjusting quota levels, as well as new provisions relating to the EU steel sector’s “decarbonisation path,” domestic supply diversity and associated cost inflation, security and defense, and demand evolution.

Finally, the agreed text annex contains a joint statement from the EU’s lawmaking institutions on the continuance of steel imports from Russia – a supply route criticised by many in the EU steel market given the existing sanctions regime – suggesting that the new regulation will not modify the existing quota-based sanctions exemption for Russian-origin steel, and citing the existing “transitional agreement” phase-out deadline of September 2028.

The agreed text does explicitly provide that countries under restrictive measures would not be allocated country-specific quotas, confirming that Russia’s historic trade flows with the EU will not be accommodated in the allocation of quota volumes, for as long as sanctions remain.

Author: Benjamin Steven

opisnet.com

The Council of the European Union has detailed its position on the proposed steel trade regulation intended to replace the safeguard measure, Kallanish notes.

This follows an agreement between Council and Parliament earlier in April.

By 31 December 2026, the Commission must assess whether to amend the scope to cover specified products including cast iron tubes, certain wire products and forged bars. By 30 June 2027, it must assess whether to cover additional products made of, or containing, a significant amount of steel, including with priority downstream iron and steel products currently outside the scope.

The total annual quota volume is set at 18,345,922 tonnes, with a 50% out-of-quota duty. Product-category quota allocations are to be based on import shares over the 2022-2024 period.

The Commission would also have powers to amend total quota volumes within a range of 14.4 million tonnes to 22.2 million tonnes, taking into account Union interest and factors including demand, import market shares, developments in overcapacity, the decarbonisation path of the EU steel sector, supply availability and defence policy objectives.

The regime would apply to imports from all third countries, including countries with tariff preferences or free trade agreements, unless bilateral safeguard measures are applied instead. Products originating in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are excluded.

The compromise text maintains the melt-and-pour requirement. Importers of covered products must provide verifiable evidence, such as a mill test certificate, proving the country where the relevant raw steel or iron was first produced in liquid form and subsequently cast into its first solid state. The Commission must adopt implementing rules on the type of evidence required by 31 August 2026.

Within two years of entry into force, the Commission must assess whether it is necessary to designate the country of melt and pour as the basis for benefiting from the tariff quotas provided for in the regulation. Based on that assessment, it may submit a legislative proposal.

Quota administration will remain quarterly. From 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, unused quarterly quota volumes will be carried over to the next quarter. From 1 July 2027, the Commission will review the carry-over, taking into account import pressure, average quota use and insufficient availability of supply for downstream steel users.

The first European Parliament reading of the new bill is expected on 18 May. If Parliament adopts the text as detailed by the Council, the latter would approve the Parliament’s position and the act would pass into law.

 

Author: Elina Virchenko

kallanish.com

Spain’s Hydnum Steel (HS)’s “green” steel mill has advanced towards obtaining the status of Project of Singular Interest (PSI), a legal designation that will speed up its development and implementation, Kallanish notes.

HS is building the first facility on the Iberian Peninsula, designed to use fossil-free energy throughout the manufacturing process and to gradually incorporate green hydrogen to substantially reduce CO2 emissions.

The Government of Castilla-La Mancha initially approved the PSI on Wednesday and gave the go-ahead for the public consultation to begin and for the granting of an integrated environmental permit.

“The PSI aims to establish an industrial plant for the production of steel coils using clean energy, so that the carbon footprint of the final product is reduced by 98% compared to that generated by current processes based on the BF-BOF route,” the authority states. The site covers an area of around 209 hectares between Puertollano and the La Nava industrial park.

“The public information includes the studies for the environmental assessment and the impact evaluation, as well as the assets and rights relating to the project, which may vary depending on any agreements that might be reached between the owners of those assets and HS,” the Government of Castilla-La Mancha adds.

Hydnum Steel aims to produce 1.5 million tonnes of flat steel in the first phase of its operations, with a view to reaching 2.7mt in subsequent stages. The project is valued at around €1.55 billion ($1.8 billion). Construction work is scheduled to begin this year.

 

Author: Todor Kirkov

kallanish.com