Traders voice concerns at proposed EU extension to steel import safeguards

The EU’s proposal to extend its safeguards on 26 product categories of steel imports until June 30, 2026, has been greeted warily by attendees at the EUROMETAL Nordics event being held in Oslo this week, with many noting in particular that the planned 15% restriction on above-quota imports from any individual country would likely be a concern.

The planned cap for any individual exporter on hot-rolled sheets and strips would result in those countries that have traditionally shipped higher volumes into the EU needing to cut deliveries or incur higher duty costs for the importers taking their volumes.

One Finnish market participant told S&P Global Commodity Insights on the sidelines of the Oslo event that the industry was holding talks with the Finnish government about concerns on the safeguard extension, with the 15% restriction the main issue.

“The fact that a 15% restriction on imports of hot-rolled coils under the remaining quarterly quota is proposed now at such short notice without taking into consideration what material is on the port is bad,” another source from a large distributor company based in Spain told Commodity Insights. “I think the European Commission knowing that the current rules were expiring at the end of the year…should have communicated this six months before to allow players in the market to analyze the situation.”

“I think this new restriction overall will help the prices to go up, but a spike in prices is not good and will not be healthy for small traders,” a source from a large trading company based in the UK said, adding that the move would impact smaller companies in the market in particular.

However, one German trader told Commodity Insights that the European steel industry needed protections in order to stabilize the negative market situation, adding that the proposal had already failed to lift prices and boost sentiment. The price of HRC has been stable for a month, the source said.

Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed HRC at Eur630/mt ex-works Ruhr June 4, stable on the day but down Eur135/mt from the highest point so far this year on Jan. 30, when it reached Eur765/mt.

Annalisa Villa | Laura Varriale