Russia asks EU for additional HRC quota for H2, EUROFER opposes

Russia has requested the European Commission to grant additional hot rolled coil (HRC) quota for delivery in the European market in the second half of the current year, considering that in the first six months of this year Russia accelerated the utilization of the HRC quota it was allotted under the EU-Russia Bilateral Steel Agreement for 2010.
 
Specifically, as of July 13, 2010, Russia utilized 83.4 percent of its HRC quota, supplying to EU countries about 913,021 mt of the allocated 1,087,397 mt.
 
Meanwhile, the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries (EUROFER) said it opposes such a request in view of the situation and outlook of the European steel market, distorted Russian export pricing and increased Russian steel protectionism.