The European steel association, Eurofer, said it expects the European Union will apply duties on hot rolled steel imports from Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.
Brazilian steelmakers shifted their HRC exports to Europe after the US imposed antidumping duties on Brazilian flats products. Brazilian flats producer Usiminas shifted over half of its total exports to Europe, as previously reported by SteelOrbis. About 50 percent of the company’s exports are now going to Europe, as CRC is the company’s most competitive product in that region.
In Q1 this year, Usiminas exported 145,000 mt of flats, or 49,000 mt of the product per month. In the same quarter, Germany was Usiminas’ main export market in Europe, accounting for 36 percent the company’s total exports for the region.
"I expect to (see final) measures, but to what extent, which countries and how high, that is another question," Geert Van Poelvoorde, Eurofer president, told Reuters on the sidelines of the European Steel Day conference in Brussels on Wednesday.
The European Union decided not to apply provisional duties over the HRC exports from the five countries. According to a Reuters report, Van Poelvoorde, who also serves as CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe Flat Steel Products, said member states had been in favor of provisional duties, but after deciding against imposing them, import volumes from the five listed countries increased.
Reuters said the executive was “optimistic that final tariffs would be imposed.” A final decision on whether there might be definite duties is due on October 6, 2017.