According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2016-2017/Q2 2016 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), available data for the first months of 2016 signal a continuation of the year-on-year growth trend in steel imports seen in the previous year. Total imports, including both semi-finished and finished steel products, increased by 30 percent year on year over the January-February period, while semis-finished steel imports grew by 42 percent and finished steel imports increased by 26 percent, both year on year. Meanwhile, preliminary customs data for March signal another 18 percent year-on-year increase in finished steel imports.
EUROFER said that, with regard to the main countries of origin for steel imports into the EU, China remained the most important exporter of finished products to the EU, followed by Russia, Ukraine, South Korea and Turkey. Together these countries accounted for 65 percent of total imports over the January-March period.
According to EUROFER, it remains to be seen whether weak domestic steel demand prospects and the European Commission’s investigations into steel dumping practices will be sufficient to limit the tonnage of imports coming into the EU. The EU steel industry will remain extremely vulnerable to supply distortions from abroad, EUROFER said.