The European Commission is implementing a 15pc cap on any individual country selling hot-rolled coil into the quarterly other countries quota of its steel safeguard.
This effectively caps any country selling into the other countries at 141,849t/quarter for the rest of this year: the other countries quota for July-September and October-December will be 945,664t.
If no grace period is granted, sources suggest this could lead to significant duties being incurred on 1 July, as many countries will have more than 15pc of the other countries volume in transit to the EU.
The commission decided against any other individual country quotas on HRC, the notification said.
The commission has been carrying out its review of the steel safeguard for months now. Market sources had anticipated Vietnam would get its own quota, while in recent months there have been suggestions Japan actively asked for its own quota.
The liberalisation rate has also been reduced from 4pc to 1pc.
The commission also notified the WTO the safeguard would be extended for two years, meaning there will be a brief six-month overlap between the safeguard and the imposition of the financial component of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM).
“The commission also established the surge of imports from certain new origins was related to growing overcapacity in certain regions as well as to the significant pressure exerted by a strong increase in Chinese exports to certain markets,” it said in the notification. China has been exporting record volumes of HRC this year, with significant tonnage going into nearby markets, such as Vietnam.
The changes to the safeguard are subject to approval by member states, and the commission will hold consultations from 29 May until June 10 on the proposal.
