Ukraine, EU close to quota deal

Ukraine, EU close to quota deal

Ukraine and the European Union (EU) recently agreed upon a new steel import quota for the years 2005-2006. The new deal, reached in March during negotiations between Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers and the European Commission (EC), allows Ukraine to supply the EU with 980’000 tons of steel in 2005. The quota for 2006 will be raised to slightly above 1 million tons. The agreement is still pending approval of higher authorities from both parties. While both sides agreed in principle that scrap metal should be traded without limitations, the EU suggested that Ukraine would first have to rescind its €30/ton levy on scrap exports. Even then, the EU offered Ukraine only a 43% increase in its export quota if the country did away with the duty. In 2004, the EC had expressed interest in increasing the 2005 quota on steel imports from Ukraine to 1.43 million tons if Ukraine agreed to abolish its scrap metal duty. The quota allocated to Ukrainian steel imports to the EU was 606’824 tons in 2004. In line with the agreement, the quota division for 2005 is as follows: 348’000 tons of heavy plate, 150’000 tons of coils, 97’000 tons of other flat products, 125’000 tons of wire rods, 30’000 tons of semi-finished and profiles and 230’000 tons of other long products. The quota division for 2006 is as follows: 356’700 tons of heavy plate, 153’750 tons of coils, 99’425 tons of other flat products, 128’125 tons of wire rods, 30’750 tons of semi-finished and profiles and 235’750 tons of other long products.