European hot-rolled coil imports fall 10% on year in 2019: Eurofer

European imports of hot-rolled coil ended 2019 down 10% year on year, while total cold-rolled coil imports slipped 7% lower, according to the latest data from The European Steel Association, or Eurofer, published Monday.

Total HRC volumes declined from about 510,000 mt in November to about 310,000 mt in December, 39% lower month on month.

While Turkish volumes for December came in at 81,062 mt, 57% lower than November, Turkey remained the top supplier to Europe shipping 2.77 million mt in 2019.

Hot-rolled coil shipments from Russia fell by half in December to about 54,000 mt, with the combined 2019 shipments sliding 12% year on year. However, Russia remained the second largest supplier by volume to Europe, shipping 1.38 million mt.

Total cold-rolled coil import volumes increased from about 128,000 mt in November to about 150,000 in December, 17% higher month on month.

Import volumes from both India and South Korea more than doubled in December, increasing to about 58,000 mt from India and to about 43,000 mt from South Korea. Imports from Brazil, the top supplier to Europe in November with about 27,000 mt, declined to just about 300 mt in December.

South Korea ended 2019 as the top supplier to the bloc with around 412,000 mt, which was a decline of 13% compared to 2018. Volumes from India fell 26% year on year to around 386,000 mt in 2019, relegating India into second place in volume terms.

Turkey increased cold-rolled coil volumes by 66% year on year, shipping about 348,000 mt, up from around 210,000 mt the previous year.