Posted on 25 Oct 2018
European steelmakers’ association Eurofer continues to believe that the quotas system put in place as a safeguard measure should be a country-based calculation rather than global, Kallanish learns during a seminar organised in Bruxelles.
The current quotas system is in place until February 2019 with the European Commission needing to take a decision on the confirmation of permanent measures by the end of 2018. Many sources believe it is likely that the measures will remain in place for a further period of three years from 2019.
Eurofer believes the measures are working well, as the quotas are gradually being filled in line with expectations. Imports are causing little disruption to the European market and the system is bringing some stability. A country-based system remains the best solution however, Eurofer says.
"We see the need for national quotas, at least for the major traditional exporters to the EU, balancing therefore for example Turkish exports, which are at the moment undercutting the European market,“ Jeroen Vermeij, head of market analysis and economic studies says. "We think there is a solid justification to include additional administration of the quota from global into national. We are not the only ones who are requesting it; some export countries are also in favour, in particular those exporting from far away, having a logistics challenge compared with neighbouring countries.“
EU28 imports grew 10% year-on-year during the first nine months of 2018, accelerating the growth in the June-July period as importers pushed higher volumes into Europe and buyers took a speculative approach. As a result of the continued increase in imports and further drop in exports, the EU’s net trade deficit worsened significantly over the first eight months of 2018. The trade deficit amounted to 1.4 million tonnes/month over this period, compared with on average 0.8 million t/month in 2017.
