New trade measures applied since July 1 are seen as “a game-changer” in the European steel market, Spanish stainless producer Acerinox said July 24, with the company forecasting a turnaround in profitability for its domestic operations.
“The measures are fundamental to mitigate production surpluses exported from countries with overcapacity and to restore competitiveness to the European industry,” CEO Bernardo Velzaquez said.
Coupled with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which was introduced in January, imports into the bloc have given local producers a supply gap to fill, and with this backdrop, the company’s 1 million metric tons/year Acerinox Europa plant in Spain is expecting to return a positive EBITDA from the third quarter, he said.
As a result of the CBAM, imports are down from 24% of the market to a 16% market share, and with the new measures, this may drop to 12% or 13%, Velzaquez told analysts on a call.
The overall impact has been a 31% drop in imports to Europe in the first half of the year, he said. This has seen “customers seeking local suppliers” to the point that Acerinox’s Spanish unit reported a positive EBITDA in June and is forecasting a turn to a positive figure for the third quarter following a difficult first half in which the plant had to recover from a fire in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The damaged hot material pickling line was back at full operation by April, allowing it to boost output 20%, the company said, without providing volume figures.
However, European demand remains subdued “due to geopolitical uncertainties,” the company said.
The market is “waiting for investment projects” particularly in the oil and gas sector, Acerinox said. The unit in Spain will go offline for two weeks in August for the usual summer shutdown, management said.
Production uptick
The company’s worldwide melt shop steel production in the second quarter amounted to 540,000 mt, up 10% quarter over quarter, boosted by the restart of the Acerinox Europa line.
Cold rolling output was 318,000 mt, down 1% year over year and long product output 42 million mt, up 6% year over year.
Acerinox operates steel production sites in Spain, Germany, the US and South Africa, with a nameplate melting shop capacity of about 3.5 million mt/year, according to the company.
In the US, the company said demand from the aerospace and industrial gas turbine sectors had been strong, and it had seen “consistent order entry improvement.”
It reported that a $244 million expansion project at North American Stainless had been completed, with a new cold-rolling mill fully operational from June as well as planned upgrades to its annealing and pickling line.
The expansion will increase production capacity at the largest integrated stainless steel factory in the US by 20% to 1.2 million mt/year.
Author: Gianluca Baratti
