News
19/12/24
EU HRC imports drop a quarter on safeguards, AD probe
EU HRC imports drop a quarter on safeguards, AD probe
London, 19 December (Argus) — EU hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports have dropped by
24pc year on year in October, as a result of the safeguards changes introduced
earlier in the year and the anti-dumping (AD) probe on key suppliers launched in
August. Volumes amounted to 1.16mn t. The drop was underpinned by sharp declines
from Japan, Egypt, Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea. Meanwhile, other countries
stepped in to fill the supply gap, such as Turkey, Ukraine and Serbia — deemed
less risky for buyers, with all ramping up their volumes year on year by 292pc,
69.5pc and 172.8pc, respectively. Turkey was the top supplier with 222,760t in
October. Imports from Indonesia also notably increased, by 41.5pc on the year to
29,140t. This volume will be likely to grow over November-March, but the country
is expected to no longer be exempt from the safeguard measures from April
onwards, market participants said. The European Commission this week launched an
early review of the tariff-rate quotas, with changes, including on the
developing countries list, to be introduced from April. Import supply is likely
to drop further over the rest of the year, and into the first quarter, with
January the last month in which residual larger volumes from countries under
investigation can be custom cleared. Sales from Japan, Egypt, Vietnam and India,
all under the scope of the AD probe , have mostly stopped over the current
quarter. Cold-rolled coil (CRC) imports are meanwhile on the rise, with 281,336t
clearing in October, up by 33.4pc on the year and 53.5pc on the month. Taiwan
was the top supplier with 64,208t, followed by Turkey and India with just over
40,000t each. The increase in Taiwanese imports, which are expected to rise
further, have fuelled talks in the market of a potential AD investigation.
Similarly, hot-dipped galvanised (HDG) imports rose by 60.1pc on the year to
802,688t, of which 270,226t was from Vietnam, representing a 279.1pc increase
year on year. Market participants have expected a probe on Vietnamese HDG for a
while, but following the safeguards review launch said that a reduction in quota
volumes might hit downstream products such as HDG and CRC in particular. Plate
imports have also nudged up, but more modestly, by 6.9pc on the year in October
to 222,133t. Rebar and wire rod arrivals were up by 170.6pc and 46.5pc on the
year, respectively. By Lora Stoyanova EU HRC imports t Oct-24 ±% Oct-23 Total
1,164,750 -24 Turkey 222,760 292 Japan 164,691 -38.2 Egypt 148,979 -19.7 Vietnam
144,512 -54.7 Taiwan 127,350 -54.5 Ukraine 103,003 69.5 South Korea 90,674 -45.9
Serbia 55,372 172.8 Australia 30,690 -62.4 Indonesia 29,140 41.5 — GTT Send
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