Trump warns EU to fulfill trade commitments by July 4 or face higher tariffs
US President Donald Trump has stated via social media that he held a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss geopolitical issues, EU-US trade relations, and tariff policy. Both sides also discussed broader regional security concerns, according to him.
Trump referred to what he described as a “historic trade deal” agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, in July last year. He claimed that the EU had committed to reducing tariffs to zero under the agreement and warned that the bloc has until the US’ 250th anniversary on July 4 to fulfill those commitments. According to Trump, failure to implement the commitments could result in significantly higher tariffs on EU products.
EU-US trade agreement still pending
As SteelOrbis reported previously, the proposed trade agreement between the US and EU would introduce a 15 percent import tariff on most EU goods, compared to the previously threatened 30 percent level. However, the agreement has not yet entered the implementation phase despite the European Parliament reaching a compromise on implementation terms earlier this year.
According to media reports, Bernd Lange, chair of the EU Parliament’s trade committee, stated that EU lawmakers and member states are continuing negotiations aimed at removing duties on US goods. He noted that progress is being made, although divisions remain among some of the EU’s 27 member states regarding safeguard measures. Lange expressed confidence that an agreement could be reached during the next negotiation rounds scheduled for May 12 or May 19.
Trump also discusses trade with Brazil
Trump additionally stated that he had concluded talks with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva focused on trade relations and tariffs. According to Trump, both sides discussed multiple trade policy issues and agreed to continue negotiations through additional meetings in the coming months if necessary.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
Assofermet Acciai: Italian steel market faces weak demand, geopolitical uncertainty
According to the latest monthly market report issued by Assofermet, the association representing Italian companies active in the trading, distribution and processing of steel, scrap and nonferrous metals, the Italian steel market continues to operate in a climate of widespread uncertainty and strong concerns, affected by the evolution of international crises and by the lack of concrete prospects for diplomatic solutions, at least in the short term.
In the carbon flat steel segment, the association stated that the combination of armed conflicts and US protectionist policies, which have yet to find a balance, is leading to a slowdown in demand from final users in European manufacturing. The market is also being weighed down by uncertainties related to the economic impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and by concerns ahead of the entry into force, on July 1, of the new EU safeguard measure, which provides for a 47 percent reduction in available quotas and a doubling of the duty for the clearance of volumes exceeding the quarterly quotas.
In this scenario, Assofermet noted, EU steelmakers appear to be able to support prices more through trade barriers than through any real strengthening of demand. No significant progress is expected in May, although service centers, despite lower sales volumes, may be able to recover part of the margins needed to offset the new purchase price levels. The growing difficulty in sourcing within the EU market all the grades required to meet customer needs also remains a critical issue, as these had previously been guaranteed by regular import flows which are now severely compromised.
The association also referred to the recent initiative promoted by EUROMETAL, called “Call to Action”, addressed to the governments of EU member states and to the European Commission, urging greater attention to the interests of European manufacturing. The document, also signed by Assofermet together with more than 400 European federations and companies, calls for measures to protect the European steel and metals industry, which is threatened by unfair competition, high energy costs and new global trade tensions. The requests include the extension of duties and CBAM to downstream and steel-intensive products, the introduction of the “Made in EU” principle in public procurement, and a reduction in energy and bureaucratic costs.
In the stainless flat steel segment, April saw a slowdown in demand, in a market environment still affected by geopolitical tensions and higher energy costs. Despite weak consumption, prices continue to rise, supported mainly by the sharp contraction in imports and the resulting strengthening of European producers’ bargaining power.
As for stockholders, April also confirmed a climate of strong caution, with sales down both in value and volume compared to the same month of 2025. End-user demand remains weak and purchases continue to be limited to immediate needs only, with no signs of restocking. Purchasing decisions are also being held back by US tariff policies and by uncertainty affecting the automotive and heavy mechanical engineering sectors.
By product, Assofermet reported a widespread decline in long products, a contraction in volumes in flat products and a mixed trend in hollow sections. Stainless steel remains the most affected segment, particularly tubular and long products, while some types of sheets and plates showed partial resilience thanks to demand from the food and chemical-pharmaceutical sectors.
Looking ahead to the coming months, the market is expected to remain in a wait-and-see phase at least until two key deadlines: July 1, when the new EU safeguard measures are set to enter into force, and August 1, the deadline for trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union. Distribution prices may remain supported by upstream pressure from producers, with possible effects on the margins of traders and service centers. CBAM, which became fully operational at the beginning of 2026, is also starting to represent a competitive advantage for operators sourcing from European producers, while progressively penalizing extra-EU import flows.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
SBQ distributor ASS Stahlservice joins GABO Stahl
ASS Stahlservice, a distributor in Neresheim in the German state of Baden-Württemberg can continue business with its 50 employees, after becoming insolvent last September.
The company now ASS Stahl, will become part of the larger GABO Stahl group, which is headquartered in nearby Essingen. According to a company press release, the creditors of the company have approved of the transfer.
In the restructuring process, stakeholders were assured of the company’s substance, with long-standing customer relationships, knowledge of the market, and experienced staff, Kallanish understands.
“The transaction is an encouraging sign that an insolvency procedure can be the starting point for a structural renewal,” insolvency administrator Martin Hörmann is quoted as saying.
ASS Stahlservice was founded in 2001, and last year moved to its new location in Neresheim. It handles bright bar, grained structural steel, and cast iron, among other products, for customers in mechanical engineering and drive technology.
GABO Stahl group also specialises in special bar qualities. It has a storage capacity of 30,000 tonnes at five sites, in Essingen, in nearby Aalen, and in Dortmund, state North Rhine Westphalia.
Author: Christian Koehl
German longs market falling behind, distributors under pressure
While sections prices keep showing improvement in European countries, Germany is not seeing the same momentum, observers tell Kallanish.
“Industries in the countries around us are quite busy, but we are not,” says one manager of a distribution company, who complains about a prevailing low in tenders for construction projects, for example.
Distributors have become aware that Germany’s sections mills are quite well utilised, while they are not. End user demand in Germany remains low, and orders for new rollings are coming in from neighbouring countries.
According to one observer, new orders are being accepted for rollings from July. Meanwhile, distributors are competing fiercely to sell the material they have in stock.
“The mills have an international customer base; we distributors act mainly locally, or nationally. This is why the sun these days shines for the mills, but not for us,” he says.
This also means that the mills have a relative power over pricing which does not translate to the distributors. The gradual increase seen this year allows mills to bag €840/tonne ($989/t) delivered for Category 1 sections.
“They will sure reach €850-860/t for orders June,” one manger believes. Given the separate upward price trend for truck freights, prices could be notably higher for customers without railway connections.
One buyer has heard the next big step announced by the market leader, targeting €900/t for later this summer, which he dismisses as wishful thinking. “They are known for always trying for leaps of €50/t,” which in reality does not work, he says.
Author: Christian Koehl
ArcelorMittal to restart Gijon BF B next week
Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal will restart blast furnace B at its Gijon site in Spain by the middle of next week.
The furnace has been off line since late last year. The company said in February that it had to cool the unit for maintenance after an unsuccessful attempt at stabilisation.
ArcelorMittal operates two blast furnaces in Gijon. Blast furnace A has continued to operate while repairs are carried out at blast furnace B. The two units have a combined capacity of 4.7mn t/yr, with each furnace able to produce 2.35mn t/yr.
ArcelorMittal confirmed it had restarted blast furnace 3 at its Dabrowa Gornicza plant in Poland earlier this week. The company plans to restart its idled blast furnace in Fos-sur-Mer, France, in June.
ArcelorMittal is bringing capacity back on line in response to trade regulations that could increase demand for EU steel.
Brazil’s slab exports to the EU increased in April after a slowdown in March, trade data released today show. Brazil exported 260,000t of slab to the bloc last month, with almost 80,000t sent to Spain, 70,000t to France and 40,000t to Poland. Brazil’s slab exports to the EU over January-April totalled 700,000t, up from no exports in the same period in 2025 and around 700,000t in the full year 2025. ArcelorMittal acquired Brazilian slab producer CSP in 2023.
Author: Lora Stoyanova
Protecting the Electromechanical Supply Chain: Minister Urso Meets the President of ESN Franco Felisa at Palazzo Piacentini.
Yesterday morning at Palazzo Piacentini, the Minister of Business and Made in Italy (MIMIT), Adolfo Urso, met with the Electromechanics Synergy Network (ESN), represented by President Franco Felisa, to discuss the challenges facing the European electromechanical and steel supply chain.
At the heart of the discussion was a clear request: to extend EU safeguard measures beyond steel, including strategic components such as transformers, generators, and electric motors, which are currently threatened by unfair global competition.
“There is no more time to lose,” Minister Urso declared. “The global context has changed, and Europe must shift from an ideological approach to a pragmatic industrial strategy that protects our companies.”
The meeting was also attended by representatives from the MASE (Ministry of Environment and Energy Security), MEF (Ministry of Economy and Finance), MAECI (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), and MEP Elena Donazzan (Vice-Chair of the ITRE Committee). Their presence underscores a unified national strategy aimed at bolstering Italy’s industrial competitiveness.
France’s metal industry output up 0.3 percent in Mar 2026 from Feb
France’s manufacturing output in March this year decreased by 0.3 percent month on month, after rising by one percent in February this year, according to the statistics released by France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).
In the January-March quarter, France’s manufacturing output increased by 0.9 percent year on year and decreased by 0.9 percent quarter on quarter.
In March, France’s production in manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment, advanced by 0.3 percent month on month, after remaining unchanged in the previous month.
On the other hand, in March production of France’s motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industry grew by one percent on month-on-month basis after dropping by 1.2 percent on month-on-month basis in the previous month, while the output of the domestic construction industry decreased by 0.2 percent month on month in the given month after going down by 1.3 percent in February compared to January.
In the January-March quarter, output of the domestic construction industry decreased by 1.3 percent compared to the previous quarter.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
Zirkel Technologies sharpens industry focus on European steel and metal distribution
Zirkel Technologies GmbH, an enterprise technology consulting and implementation firm serving the European Mittelstand since 2016, has sharpened its industry focus on steel and metal distribution — with explicit attention to stockholding distributors, steel service centers, and the metal processing trade across Europe.
The Frankfurt-headquartered IT services provider, with additional offices in Vienna, Zurich, Oakville, Riga, and Noida, is targeting a market segment under sustained margin pressure, volatile freight rates, and rising compliance demands — from EN 10204 material certificates to CBAM reporting and EU safeguard quota administration — that increasingly depends on resilient, integrated system landscapes.
The firm’s portfolio spans SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business One Production, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, MuleSoft, Data & AI, legacy modernization, and managed services. Unlike most ERP houses, Zirkel Technologies operates explicitly as a vendor-neutral advisor: it holds no formal ties to any ERP supplier, and software license resale is not part of its business model. “Which system fits a steel distribution business is decided by process content — transparency in cutting and processing operations, processing depth, scrap and yield factors, batch control, EN 10204 material certificate requirements, and much else besides. It is certainly not decided by an ERP vendor’s commission structure,” says Managing Director Kapil Gupta.
The decision to focus on this sector is strategic. European steel and metal distribution combines high operational complexity — from high-bay warehouses with radio-controlled magnetic cranes to end-to-end material documentation — with system landscapes accumulated over decades, in which siloed point solutions are the rule rather than the exception. From the company’s perspective, this is precisely where the greatest value-creation potential lies in the years ahead. Practical applications range from sub-2-second stock checks via MuleSoft APIs and integrated CBAM certificate handling to AI-driven inventory optimization linked back into core ERP and warehouse management.
For clients, this translates into independent ERP evaluation, a domain-grounded project team, and a DACH-Noida delivery model — combining German-speaking consultants with Indian engineering scale — that keeps project budgets predictable.
Zirkel Technologies GmbH is a vendor-neutral consulting and implementation firm for the Mittelstand, covering SAP S/4HANA, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, MuleSoft, and Data & AI. Frankfurt-headquartered with offices in Vienna, Zurich, Oakville, Riga, and Noida; founded 2016. Digital transformation that moves your business forward.
New railway line launched between Ukraine and Romania
EU approves acquisition of HKM by Salzgitter Mannesmann
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of Germany-based Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann (HKM) by local company Salzgitter Mannesmann GmbH under the EU Merger Regulation. The transaction was reviewed under the simplified merger procedure.
According to the Commission, the proposed acquisition does not raise competition concerns within the European Economic Area.
The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition due to the companies’ market positions and the limited overlap between their activities.
In February, thyssenkrupp Steel and Salzgitter AG reached an agreement on the future of the HKM joint venture with thyssenkrupp selling its HKM shareholding to the latter, as SteelOrbis previously reported. As part of the arrangement, HKM’s steel deliveries to thyssenkrupp Steel will end at the close of 2028, four years earlier than the previously planned 2032 deadline.
Deal strengthens restructuring efforts in German steel sector
The acquisition is part of broader restructuring and consolidation efforts within Germany’s steel industry, which continues to face weak demand, high energy costs, pressure from decarbonization investments and rising import competition.
The transaction is expected to support operational optimization and long-term strategic positioning for the involved companies.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team