According to Spanish steelmakers association UNESID, in 2018 Spain imported a total of 10.8 million mt of steel products, representing an increase of 8.6 percent year on year, equivalent to almost one million additional mt. This result supports the upward trend of the last five years, with the volume in 2018 being the highest volume of the last ten years.
UNESID said that the Section 232 measures in the United States have led various countries to increase their exports into Spain and the European Union, as is the case for Turkey whose exports to Spain grew by 52 percent to exceed one million mt in 2018.
Spain’s steel imports from third countries rose by 21 percent year on year to 3.8 million mt, as a result of the closure of the US market, indicating that the safeguard measures in the EU which came into force in July 2018 have not slowed the growth of imports. As a result, the safeguard measures have not limited the supply of imports, but rather try to avoid the damage caused by an excessive increase of imports in the face of an unforeseen event, UNESID noted.
