EU steel import quotas rapidly exhausted in opening days of Q4 period

In the first 5 days of the new EU quota period from October 1 to December 31, some of the import quotas for certain steel products allocated for Turkey, China, India, Australia, Taiwan, Macedonia and “other countries” have been exceeded, while over 70 percent of quotas for some steel products have been used up, according to the European Commission's data.

Regarding the exceeded quotas, Turkey has exceeded its quotas of 160,573 mt for HRC, 63,925 mt for metallic coated sheets (4A), 26,019 mt for metallic coated sheets (4B) and 11,568 mt for organic coated sheets, 7,007 mt for quarto plates, with 378,822 mt, 96,084 mt, 26,577 mt 16,073 mt and 15,474 mt of the given products respectively waiting for customs clearance. In addition, the country has also exceeded its quotas of 59,919 mt for rebars, 61,147 mt for wire rods, 28,163 mt for gas pipes, 59,849 mt for hollow sections and 22,453 mt for other welded pipes, with 78,088 mt, 70,698 mt, 45,891 mt, 112,046 mt and 25,420 mt of the given products respectively waiting at the EU ports.

The quotas of 11,837 mt for electrical sheet (3B), 45,749 mt for metallic coated sheets (4B), 13,158 mt for other seamless pipes and 14,298 mt for non-alloy wire allocated for China has been exceeded with 41,793 mt, 111,256 mt, 23,947 mt and 28,888 mt of the given products respectively waiting for customs clearance.

Looking at the quotas allocated for India, the country has exceeded its quotas of 52,709 mt for quarto plates, 23,139 mt for stainless bars and light sections, 10,036 mt for gas pipes and 3,832 mt for seamless stainless tubes, with 64,454 mt, 39,641 mt, 13,166 mt and 4,859 mt of the given products respectively waiting at the EU ports.

Australia and Taiwan have exceeded their quotas of 11,830 mt for HRC and 5,322 mt for organic coated sheets, respectively, while Macedonia has exceed its quota of 10,958 mt for hollow sections.

Meanwhile, the quotas of 5,564 mt for HRC, 24,933 mt for CRC, 33,338 mt for metallic coated sheets (4A), 6,446 mt for tin mill products, 18,829 mt for quarto plates and 7,174 mt for hollow sections allocated for “other countries” have been exceeded. In addition, the quota of 5,149 mt for hollow sections allocated for “FTA-Others” has also been exceeded.

The quotas with utilization rates above 70 percent can be seen in the table below.