The European Council has announced that it has adopted a 12th package of sanctions against Russia to combat sanctions circumvention and close loopholes.
The EU has accordingly restricted imports of pig iron with quotas for two separate periods, while market participants were expecting an import ban. Imports of pig iron between December 19, 2023, and December 31, 2024, will be restricted to a quota of 1.14 million mt, and with a quota of 700,000 mt for the period from January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025. The EU has deferred the ban on imports of pig iron from Russia to 2026, SteelOrbis understands. Direct reduced iron imports from Russia will be subject to quotas of 1.14 million mt and 651,906 mt for the given periods, respectively.
In addition, the quotas for ex-Russia slab imports has been extended for another four years, as expected. The EU has set a total 8.5 million mt quota for slab imports from October 2024 until the end of September 2028, and a total 426,321 mt quota for semi-finished products of alloy steel other than stainless (HS code 7224 90) for the same period. The issue had been actively lobbied by NLMK Belgium, subsidiary of Russia-based NLMK Group, as SteelOrbis previously reported. At the same time, imports of square billet containing weight of less than 0.25 percent of carbon (HS 7207 11) will be banned from April 2024, similar to the previously announced measures.