Brazil’s steel industry expects the country will not be included in any potential tariffs or quotas imposed by the European Union (EU) over foreign steel exports, Brazilian newspaper Valor said.
It remains unclear if the EU will either apply quotas or impose duties to the Brazilian steel, if any, but the topic has raised awareness among local steel producers. Brazil exports mainly semi-finished steel products to the EU. The region is Brazil’s second largest export market, after the US.
Marco Polo, executive president of IABr, said the steel glut may led the European trade bloc to protect itself.
“Meanwhile, Brazil’s ministry of finance and the local secretariat of strategic affairs organize a seminar to discuss ways to expand trade to Brazil,” he said.
IABr has defended tougher measures to protect the local steel industry.
Brazil declined to impose anti-dumping (AD) duties over Chinese HRC due to “public interest” reasons, as China has been seen as a key commercial partner for Brazil in areas like energy and transport infrastructure.
Last year, Brazil exported 2.8 million mt of steel to the EU, or about 18.1 percent of the local steel industry total exports, Valor noted.