EUROFER: New EU trade measures needed in face of US tariffs
The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has stated that, with US tariffs now raised to 50 percent, the only way to avoid the further erosion of the European steel market is the swift implementation of the “highly effective trade measure” promised by the European Commission.
Expecting a massive deflection of the 27 million mt of steel previously destined for the US towards the European market due to the doubling of US tariffs on steel, EUROFER noted that, with global overcapacity at record highs and import penetration in the EU up to 30 percent, the EU is being flooded by cheap foreign steel.
Reporting that most of the 3.8 million mt of EU steel exports to the US are now under a de facto import ban, the association stated that, with the 50 percent tariff, even Europe’s highest-quality, most competitive steel products will be priced out.
“We need the Commission’s promised ‘highly effective trade measure’ as a lifeline, and we need it now. If we wait until 2026, when the current EU steel safeguard expires, much of our industry will already be submerged beyond recovery. … A negotiated EU-US solution is paramount to preserve our exports at this critical moment for the European sector. The US and the EU should reopen negotiations, stalled in 2024, to address global overcapacity jointly,” Axel Eggert, director general of EUROFER, said.
US Steel Traders grapple with ‘nightmare’ tariff doubling
US President Donald Trump said during an appearance at US Steel’s Irvin Works outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday May 30 that he would double Section 232 tariffs from 25% to 50% on steel and aluminium. The news ruined weekends across the nation.
“It’s a nightmare… It’ll destroy the economy, manufacturing — nothing good about it,” a trader said. “Domestic mills will take advantage of this and raise prices. Everything’s been suspended since Friday… I’ve got cargo coming in [this month] and that’s going to be penalized. [The customer] already said they won’t pay for it.”
A West Coast trader said his market is particularly vulnerable to off-the-cuff tariff announcements due to the local reliance on imported steel — which may not be a negative for the Trump administration.
“Importers are scrambling right now, and customers who bought import are also scrambling to ensure they have steel in the next 30-60 days,” he said, adding that it is “probably icing on the cake for the Trump administration — stick it to the states that did not vote for him.”
“Materials that have rolled and have shipped or are at the docks about to ship will have to be renegotiated. What means in terms of who shoulders the burder of the additional 25% is yet to be determined,” he said. “So that being said, I fully anticipate domestic mills will raise prices. Not sure if we’ll see announcements, as the optics might look bad. If you call today, you’ll find mills saying they don’t have availability, which is a crock. They are just waiting to see what they can get away with.”
A distributor told Fastmarkets that domestic mills have essentially stopped quoting “because mills haven’t figured out what they’re going to do yet.”
“Mills have paused their quoting,” he said. “We’ve been talking to traders, and they’re definitely concerned depending on how these things shake out. They’ve got steel on the water. They may need to absorb the tariffs or get the mill to do some absorption.”
Yet another trader called the situation “truly interesting times.”
“A 50% mark-up is impossible to catch in the market — to do any business on imports with customers,” he said. “Domestic mills haven’t changed their prices yet, but with 50%, it’ll always be difficult. Maybe not impossible, but difficult for buyers to make economic sense of importing.”
EUROMETAL urges action against unregulated steel derivatives imports to EU
European steel distribution association EUROMETAL called for action June 3 to address an influx of unregulated steel derivatives entering the EU market, and asked stakeholders to submit data demonstrating the impact on industry.
Ready-made steel product imports lack adequate regulatory oversight and pose a significant threat to European manufacturing, according to the association.
“These unchecked imports are placing European manufacturing at risk and threatening the entire steel value chain, from production and processing to distribution and end-use. This situation calls for swift, collective action,” EUROMETAL President Alexander Julius said.
EUROMETAL had already voiced concerns about the increase in steel derivatives imports to the European Commission in April. In response, the commission requested concrete evidence, including specific tariff codes and data that demonstrate the scale of this influx.
EUROMETAL said it is gathering and compiling data on these imports, collaborating closely with Eurofer and other interested associations. The industry bodies aim to present a united front to the commission and demonstrate the widespread impact on the industry.
Eurometal has provided a template for stakeholders to provide relevant information regarding steel derivative imports, with all submissions due by June 15.
“This is a crucial opportunity to show the European Commission that this issue is widespread, data-driven and industry-backed,” Julius said.
European HRC market quiet; sentiment bearish
“There have been no deals in recent days. The more I try to push buyers, the more they run,” a trader said.
“I think we are going to have a very dark summer in steel markets,” he added.
Customers’ estimates of theoretical workable prices for HRC in Northern Europe varied within the range of €615-625 ($700-712) per tonne ex-works on Tuesday.
Sources on producers’ side reported their estimates at €630-640 per tonne ex-works earlier this week, which was considered totally unworkable for the majority of buyers.
Several trader sources said they expected prices in Northern Europe to reach around €600 per tonne by the end of June, while others believed the downtrend would persist for longer.
“The situation in Europe will deteriorate dramatically after July 1, amid the implementation of new duties in the US. I [believe] that the price [for HRC in Europe] will drop,” a source said.
In Italy, sources also reported weak demand, and no fresh bookings were heard on Tuesday.
Sources on both buyers’ and sellers’ sides reported estimates of workable prices varying within the range of €580-610 per tonne ex-works, depending on the tonnage.
This is when earlier assessments of workable price for decent tonnages did not go below €590 per tonne ex-works and official offers came at €620.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €596.67 per tonne on Tuesday, down by 0.35% from €598.75 on Monday June 2.
Offers of Indonesian HRC were heard within the range of €520-530 per tonne CFR in Italy.
In Northern Europe, Indonesian material was available at €550 per tonne CFR. Some unconfirmed offers of Indian HRC came at €534 per tonne CFR. And Chinese HRC was reported available around €550 per tonne CFR including anti-dumping duties.
Sources reported no interest even in imported material, citing low real demand.
Published by: Vlada Novokreshchenova
Imports spare German rebar prices
The stability of German rebar prices, despite falling scrap values, is also not being threatened much by cheaper rebar import offers, sources say. This applies to Austria to some extent, too.
German ports have gained some favour for smaller coastal vessels with loads of 5,000+ tonnes. One observer gives the example of an Algeria-origin shipment offered at €600/t ($683) cif German port. But he cautions this offer is not necessarily attractive for buyers further inland to the south.
The manager of an eastern German stockholder not too far from the coast confirms this. “They [Algerian suppliers] are offering €630/t delivered to the door,” he tells Kallanish. But the size range is limited, and apparently the offer applies to a volume of 5,000t, essentially the entire load – few buyers in these days of meagre demand would risk that tonnage.
German buyers therefore prefer domestic material, which some see at €665/t ex-works, others at up to €695/t, depending on the deal. This is composed of a base price of €400-430 plus the size extra of €265.
Relative price stability is also being seen in Austria, even from Italian suppliers. Offers from there are at base prices of €360-370 delivered, which is easily €100 over the domestic Italian prices. “There are bottlenecks with transport space,” one manager explains and expresses the impression that “they [Italian suppliers] therefore prefer to sell domestic”.
Offers from domestic and German producers in Austria are at €630-640/t delivered. Rebar in coil offers are hard to come by, with little price difference between domestic (€660 delivered) and Italian mills (€650), the manager says.
Further north, buyers are also observing a coil shortage in Germany. However, coil is still only fetching the standard premium of €20/t over bars. Various sources say they find the supply scarcity is not helping much with supporting prices, due to low demand from construction.
Christian Koehl Germany
EU imposes China tinplate definitive AD duties
The European Commission has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel plated or coated with tin – commonly known as tinplate – originating in China, Kallanish notes from the Official Journal of the European Union.
The move follows an investigation launched in May 2024 after a complaint by the European Steel Association (Eurofer), which claimed that dumped imports were causing material injury to the EU tinplate industry. Provisional duties had already been imposed on 14 January 2025. The regulation confirms and replaces these provisional measures with definitive duties.
The duties apply to tinplate imports from China regardless of whether the goods are declared as originating from China or not.
For imports produced by Baosteel Group’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co and WISCO-Nippon Steel Tinplate Co, the definitive anti-dumping duty is set at 13.1%. Imports from Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co are subject to a 46.8% duty, while other cooperating Chinese companies face a 24.6% duty. For all other Chinese exporters, a 62.3% duty applies.
These duties cover CN codes 7210 11 00, 7210 12, ex 7210 70, 7210 90 40, ex 7210 90 80, 7212 10, and ex 7212 40. The regulation requires importers to present a valid commercial invoice from the Chinese exporter to benefit from company-specific duty rates; otherwise, the general duty rate of 62.3% applies.
The amounts secured by the provisional anti-dumping duties since January 2025 are definitively collected, with any excess above the final rates released.
The regulation also establishes a framework for adding new Chinese exporters to the list of cooperating companies if they can prove they did not export the product during the investigation period, are not related to a company subject to the measures, and have either already exported or have an irrevocable contractual obligation to export a significant quantity to the EU.
The regulation coordinates with the above-quota tariff duties. Where these tariff duties exceed the anti-dumping duties, only the above-quota tariffs will be collected, and the anti-dumping duties will be suspended during that period. Conversely, if the above-quota tariff duties are lower, they will be collected alongside the difference up to the higher anti-dumping duty.
Elina Virchenko Turkey
EU terminates China seamless tube AD investigation
The European Commission has terminated the anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain seamless pipe and tube originating from China, and customs authorities were directed to cease the registration of such imports, Kallanish notes.
The investigation commenced on 17 May 2024 following a complaint lodged by the European Steel Tube Association (ESTA) on 2 April 2024.
On 27 February 2025, ESTA withdrew its complaint, and the Commission found no indications that terminating the investigation would be contrary to the Union interest.
Consequently, the Commission decided to terminate the anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel, including precision tubes of circular cross-section, with an external diameter not exceeding 406.4mm and a carbon equivalent value (CEV) not exceeding 0.86, originating in China.
Product is classified under CN codes ex 7304 19 10, ex 7304 19 30, ex 7304 23 00, ex 7304 29 10, ex 7304 29 30, ex 7304 31 20, ex 7304 31 80, ex 7304 39 50, ex 7304 39 82, ex 7304 39 83, ex 7304 51 89, ex 7304 59 82, and ex 7304 59 83 (TARIC codes: 7304 19 10 20, 7304 19 30 20, 7304 23 00 20, 7304 29 10 20, 7304 29 30 20, 7304 31 20 30, 7304 31 80 30, 7304 39 50 30, 7304 39 82 30, 7304 39 83 20, 7304 51 89 30, 7304 59 82 30, and 7304 59 83 20).
Elina Virchenko Turkey
ArcelorMittal’s German strip mills get new chief
Rainer Böse has been appointed as new chairman of the management of ArcelorMittal’s German strip mills, Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Kallanish hears.
Böse, 57, has held several positions in the steelmaking group. Since 2017, he headed sales at the company’s Northern Europe region as chief marketing officer. Prior to that, he was managing director of ArcelorMittal Commercial Germany. He is particularly knowledgeable on market conditions for flat products, and well-connected internationally, the group’s statement reads.
He succeeds Thomas Bünger, who headed the mills since early 2024 and became ArcelorMittal Germany chief executive only in January.
The announcement thanks Bünger “for his commitment to our company” but does not clearly state if he remains ceo or has left the company altogether.
Christian Koehl Germany
Trump to hike Section 232 tariffs on steel to 50 percent, meets strong global criticism
Speaking at a rally in Pittsburgh on Friday, May 30, US President Donald Trump stated that the Section 232 tariffs applied to all steel and aluminum imports will be raised to 50 percent from 25 percent, effective this Wednesday, to help the domestic steel industry.
Trump’s decision was met with strong criticism around the globe. Canada’s Chamber of Commerce stated that the hike was “antithetical to North American economic security”, while Canada’s United Steelworkers considered the hike as a direct attack on Canadian industries and workers. The European Commission, on the other hand, said that Trump’s move “undermines ongoing efforts to reach a negotiated solution”, recalling that the European Union has paused its tariffs on imports from the US to facilitate negotiations. A spokesperson for the commission stated that Europe is ready to retaliate.
Trump also accused China of violating the agreement to roll back tariffs reached in recent trade talks in Geneva without specifying a reason. The Ministry of Economy of China pushed back on Trump’s claims, saying that, while China upheld its part of the agreement, the US introduced some “discriminatory restrictions”.
Unesid reiterates calls for greater protection, energy solutions
The Spanish steel industry is urging the EU to provide stronger protection for the sector and help offset high energy costs, Kallanish notes.
This appeal was made by Spanish steel association Unesid president Bernardo Velázquez and general director Carola Hermoso during a meeting with Miguel Gil Tertre, chief of staff to Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition and Commissioner for Competition.
The industry is calling for urgent measures to safeguard steel production, including the development of a new and effective trade defence mechanism that also covers downstream products vulnerable to unfair competition.
“We consider it crucial that Europe prohibits the export of scrap to countries that do not meet EU environmental standards, as scrap availability is essential for steel decarbonisation,” Unesid states. “Competitive and predictable energy pricing is also vital, along with temporary support to cover additional costs while the shift to renewables progresses.”
Unesid is also advocating progressive incentives to promote the use of “green” steel in key sectors such as automotive, construction, and appliances. Additionally, it is calling for EU funds to support industrial decarbonisation with realistic, economically viable targets.
Another priority raised during the meeting was the inclusion of sustainability and resilience criteria in public procurement. This would help create lead markets for low-emission products, attract foreign investment, and strengthen trade relations with the US.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria