UK TRA proposes 2.9mn t HRC import quota

The UK Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended splitting the country's safeguard import quota for hot-rolled coil (HRC) into two, and has increased it to almost 3mn t.

The quota for HRC, product category one, is currently around 1mn t and divided on a country-by-country basis. The TRA has recommended splitting the product into 1a and 1b, with 1a remaining distributed as 1 currently is and have an around 1mn t allocation, and with 1b having a 1.9 mn t volume that can be sourced from anywhere.

1b is for "downstream processing", which does not include coil being turned into hot-rolled sheet. It will predominantly be used by UK-based producer Tata, although some others, such as tube manufacturers, may also be able to use it. And 1b will have a cap of around 37-42pc, to ensure no one exporter dominates the quota.

The TRA started a review of the quota in February, in response to Tata's increased import requirements as it takes down its blast furnaces ahead of the installation of a 3mn t electric arc furnace in 2027.

"We propose maintaining the current quota volumes for steel used for commercial applications and creating a new quota accessible for downstream processing".

Sources suggest Tata will initially be looking to import around 2mn t of HRC and 1mn t of slab before the expansion of its Kalinganagar site in India is complete, after which it intends to ramp up slab purchases to around 1.5mn t.

By Colin Richardson