UK steelmakers want the government to impose a melt and pour clause to prevent the importation of any product made using Russian hot metal or substrate.
Such a move would stop flat or long steels produced using Russian slab or billet entering the UK, potentially reducing flows of steel from key exporters such as Turkey and Vietnam.
Buyers would not want to inadvertently purchase material manufactured using Russian pig iron or semi-finished steel, when Russian finished material itself is banned, the steelmakers argued.
A melt and pour clause would remove the "loophole" allowing Russian exporters to send semi-finished product to other markets that can be rolled and then shipped to the UK, Industry association UK Steel told Argus. The association has communicated its position to the UK government, it said.
The UK initially put a 35pc tariff on Russian finished steel, before imposing an outright ban on 14 April in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
A melt and pour clause could be difficult to administer, as the transformation from slab or billet to finished products can change the origin of the material.
"We have already banned all imports of Russian iron and steel products — just one part of the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced," a government spokesperson told Argus, adding they would not speculate on future sanctions.
If such a rule was passed, it would mean that material from European mills such as NLMK La Louviere that use Russian slab could not be sold into the UK.
