According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2024-2025/Q3 2024 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), total EU imports of all steel products, including semis, rose by 12.0 year on year in the first quarter of 2024. In the given quarter, the EU’s imports of flat steel increased by 22.0 percent year on year, while imports of long steel were down by 15.0 percent and imports of finished steel products moved up by 12.0 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the first four months, India, Turkey, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China were the main countries of origin for finished steel imports into the EU. The first five countries accounted for 56 percent of total EU finished steel imports. India continued to be the largest import source of finished products for the EU, with a share of 15.8 percent, followed by Turkey with 12.6 percent, Vietnam with 10.3 percent, South Korea with 8.9 percent, Taiwan with 8.7 percent, Japan with 6.8 percent and China with 6.6 percent.
In the January-April period this year, imports of finished products from China and South Korea dropped by 38.0 percent and 11.0 percent, respectively, while imports from Taiwan, Japan, Turkey, India and Vietnam rose by 17.0 percent, 10.0 percent, 85.0 percent, 62.0 percent and 155.0 percent, respectively, all year on year.
According to the EUROFER report, in the given period long product imports accounted for 19.0 percent of total finished product imports.