EU27 imports of chapter 72 iron and steel products rose 7% on-year in June to 3.75 million tonnes, driven by a surge in semi-finished steel intake. Hot rolled flat steel imports also rose, but cold rolled and coated coil intake declined, Kallanish notes from Eurostat data.
Semis imports from outside the bloc surged 35% to 779,106t in June. Russia was the main supplier and upped its shipments into the EU by 106% to 355,717t. Intake also rose significantly from China and Brazil, by 163% and 77% respectively to 136,539t and 104,252t.
Imports of pig iron however dropped 65% in June to 50,790t, mainly due to Russia supplying zero versus over 100,000t a year earlier as the EU’s Russia-origin pig iron quota was already exhausted earlier this year.
Imports of hot rolled flat steel surged 33% on-year in June to 728,023t, boosted by a large increase from Türkiye, as well as growth from India and Indonesia, while Malaysia and Australia appeared on the list of suppliers.
Shipments from Türkiye surged 83% to 194,994t, while India more than trebled supply to 87,847t and Indonesia increased supply 111% to 84,673t. Australia supplied 59,649t and intake from Malaysia was 41,096t, each versus zero last year.
CR and coated flats imports however each fell 15% in June to 179,624t and 268,381t respectively.
In the first half of 2025, EU chapter 72 imports thus fell 1% on-year to 24.9mt. This was due to declining imports of hot rolled and coated coil, as well as HS code 7213 products, which include wire rod. It came despite growth in imports of semis and pig iron.
Adam Smith Austria
