While the EU’s overall finished steel imports fell 15.6% year-on-year in February to 1.7 million tonnes amid weak end-user demand and anticipation of tighter trade measures, South Korea- and China-origin intake bucked the trend, according to ISSB.
Indonesia also dramatically expanded its presence in the EU market, with imports of finished steel into the EU increasing five-fold to reach 99,000t in February, Kallanish notes.
Shipments from South Korea surged 28.7% to 303,000t, while Chinese deliveries rose by 10.7% to 169,000t compared to the same month last year, ISSB reports. Both countries had already seen record-high sales to the EU in January.
Meanwhile, preliminary Chinese customs data indicates that Europe continued to absorb large volumes of Chinese finished steel in March. Exports to Europe totalled 256,000t, following 307,000t in February and 277,000t in January. Korean exports to the EU also remained strong, amounting to 268,000t in March after registering 319,000t the previous month, ISSB notes.
The rise in Asia-origin steel imports comes even as key European demand sectors show signs of weakness.
Separately, ISSB notes that in February, the UK’s finished steel imports jumped 27.3% year-on-year to 498,000t, “following the country’s [Tata Steel UK’s underway] transition to electric steelmaking.”
Deliveries from major EU suppliers rose, including Spain and Germany, while Turkish- and Vietnamese-origin imports slumped by 33.2% and 63.4%, respectively. Nevertheless, imports from South Korea and China increased by 16.1% and 5.1% respectively.
On a global scale, China’s total finished steel exports rose 6.3% year-on-year in March to 10.5 million tonnes, even as the total export value declined by 4.8% in US dollar terms.
South Korean finished steel shipments to overseas markets stood at 2.2mt in March against 2.3mt in the same month a year ago.
Elina Virchenko Turkey
