The EU-27's individual quotas for most steel products from India, Turkey and Russia have been completely used up or reached a critical level last month. However, two months after opening up quotas to other countries, a large number of duty-free products are still exported to the EU.
According to official EU customs data, Turkey and Russia's hot-rolled steel coils (HRC) quotas were almost not used in October, but they were all used up by November 30. Except for South Korea (69% of the quota is full), most of the other companies exporting HRC to the EU are not active.
Imports in the steel wire market are also considerable. By the end of November, Turkey had completely used up the remaining 19,600 tons of quota. The demand for Russian wire rod is also very high. Its remaining quota (78%) has been used up this month, and as of November 30, only 3,000 tons are left. The remaining wire quota will end in mid-November.
As of November 15, India has used up nearly 30,000 tons of the remaining plate quota. All other suppliers of these products have a quota of less than 50%.
In terms of cold rolled coil, almost all countries reduced their remaining quotas by around 30% during November, which means that most of the quotas have been used up by 50-70%.
Both sub-categories of galvanized steel have historically been in high demand. India used more than 9,000 tons of coated steel in November (89% used). As of November 30, the remaining quota for similar products reached a critical level (86%).
In the rebar market, only Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine still have enough quotas for duty-free sales to the EU before December 31, while Moldova used 76% of the quota, and the remaining quota reached a critical level after exceeding 90%.
On June 25, the European Union officially extended the protective tariff on steel for another three years, starting on July 1, 2021. As previously reported, the duty-free steel quota will increase by 3% each year.
Post time: Dec-15-2021