EU starts registering Turkish HRC imports

The European Commission has started registering Turkish hot-rolled coil arrivals from 13 November, a day after it announced the decision in the official journal, and will apply it for nine months.

The registration of imports is necessary for the commission to be able to apply anti-dumping duties retroactively, should the ongoing investigation conclude in imposition of the measure. The request for imports registration filed by Eurofer in September alleged dumping margins of 4-8%. The commission estimated the value of possible future duty at the highest dumping margin, “…namely 8% as a proportion of the CIF import value of the product concerned.”

Market sources told Kallanish they were satisfied with the registrations timing, as some were expecting it would applied for all arriving volumes starting from October. Additionally, several sources said registrations will not automatically lead to retroactive application of duty, but they are a legal necessity, in case the decision is made.

Reawakening demand for HRC in the EU continued to lift Turkish exporters’ prices in the past week, ending in one sale just above $560/tonne fob to Italy (see separate article) and several in $550-560/t fob range. Kallanish understands European buyers are taking on payment of the possible duty, which they estimate at around 5%, with at least one Turkish supplier confirming that it is not involved in liability sharing.

The decision is expected in January, amid a loud backdrop of European independent HRC processors voices speaking against the imposition. Turkish HRC has been a preffered feedstock for European steel industry for a few decades, due to its quality, easy logistics and long established partnerships, Turkish suppliers maintain.