The EU will slash quotas for imported flat-rolled products by 8.5mn t in its new post-safeguard mechanism, it said today.
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports will be capped at 5.2mn t, down by 3.6mn t from 2024 imports. All countries, including Ukraine, will be in scope of the new measure, meaning any volume above this level will incur a 50pc tariff, although this will still be calculated on a pro-rata basis at the start of a new quota period.
The quota for cold-rolled coil will be 1.5mn t/yr, down by 1.7mn t, while the hot-dip galvanised quota will be 2.85mn t, down by 1.8 mn t from 2024 imports. Quotas will be quarterly and there will be no rollover of unused volume.
The European Commission will detail country allocations in later implementing acts, it said. Commission sources told Argus those quotas would partly be negotiated with fellow WTO members.
“Interests of a candidate country facing an exceptional and immediate security situation, such as Ukraine, should also be reflected upon when deciding on the quota allocations, without undermining the effectiveness of the measure”, the commission said.
Eurofer said the measure is a “long-awaited proposal to forcefully defend the European steel sector”, hailing it as a “major leap forward”. The measure also includes a melt-and-pour clause, although initially it seems this will be an information exercise, and not prevent material melted in China being processed elsewhere and sold into the EU.
The commission said it wants to bring EU utilisation rates up to 80pc, from just 67pc at present.
UK Steel said the UK government must negotiate “preferential treatment” for its own mills, and tighten its own import quotas.
Futures prices on the CME Group’s north EU HRC contract rallied on the back of the news. February traded up to €640/t after the news of the quota cut filtered down, with January trading at €630/t.
The commission did not explicitly state when the measure will be imposed, but at present it is just a proposal for regulation that has to pass through the EU parliament and usual legal process.
