CRC should be removed from UK steel safeguard: traders

Cold-rolled coil (CRC) should be removed from the UK steel safeguard because Tata will not produce material for external sale, traders told the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA).

During its decarbonisation drive, Tata Steel will only produce CRC as a substrate for galvanising lines — the mill will not produce for external sale annealed CRC that can be used for commercial purposes, such as the automotive and office furniture industries. Tata sources confirmed annealed CRC will not be produced for sale, and that the company will use it as substrate for the manufacture of tinplate, hot-dip galvanised (HDG) and Colorcoat at its sites in Trostre, Llanwern and Shotton, in south and north Wales. All of these lines have annealing built into their respective processes.

The closure of Tata's continuous annealing processing line in March 2025 and batch annealing will mean the company has no cold-rolled annealing capacity from that date, a source close to the company confirmed.

As a result, UK service centres that buy CRC will have to resort to European or imported material and will not be able to purchase domestically produced CRC from Tata Steel. Tata is the only domestic producer of CRC, and there can be no safeguard if there is no domestic output.

HRC suspension

The UK market is still awaiting the government's decision on whether or not to suspend the import quota for hot-rolled coil (HRC). The TRA has recommended the quota be suspended in light of Tata's increased importation of HRC, but it has not been actioned by the new government — it was made in April, but was also not approved by the previous administration. The TRA's "suspension assessment" was ongoing, even though it made its recommendation months ago, a spokesperson for the department of business and trade said. The International Steel Trade Association has written to the new secretary of state for business, Jonathan Reynolds, regarding the suspension.

Traders believe Tata should not be able to import HRC that is not used in its downstream processing facilities for the production of CRC and HDG. Traders and some service centres argue HRC being cut into sheet is not sufficiently downstream, as this is what most service centre importers do. Tata reportedly wants its own quota for HRC imports.

By Colin Richardson