May 22, 2020
EU IMPORTS FALL IN MARCH AND FIRST QUARTER

EU imports of finished steel products kept falling in March, impacted by negative sentiment in the market, Kallanish learns from the latest data published by Eurofer.

Combined imports of flat and long products were down over -27% year-on-year in March to 1.7 million tonnes. The y-o-y fall was more or less in line with the one seen in February, Kallanish notes.

The drop in imports was evenly split between flat and long products, according to the Eurofer data. Overall Q1 imports of finished products were down -20% y-o-y.

It is also worth noting that March figures were only minorly impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, which officially escalated during March. April-June levels are expected to be more impacted by the coronavirus emergency.

Currently, the European Commission is considering reducing safeguard quotas and imposing anti-dumping measures on Turkish hot rolled coil imports. The market for imports seems to be following the overall negative trend seen in demand. HRC imports from Turkey, for example, were down by over -50% y-o-y during Q1, according to Eurofer data.

Source: Eurometal