According to media reports, Jeroen Vermeij, director of market analysis and economic studies at the European Steel Association (EUROFER), has said that steel imports into Europe increased sharply as a result of US tariffs, particularly imports from Turkey, amid the slowing down of the steel demand in Europe. “They are pushing a lot of volumes into the EU market at any cost,” said Mr. Vermeij.
According to EUROFER figures, in the first nine months of the current year imports from Turkey and Russia into the EU increased, up 57 percent from Turkey and rising by 56 percent from Russia.
According to Reuters, Karl Tachelet, EUROFER’s trade director, stated that the US tariffs caused a surge of some 40 percent in US steel prices, meaning European producers could still sell some steel to the country. “The question for us is how long are the US prices going to stay that high. There will be some correction and when prices go down the 25 percent will be more prohibitive,” Reuters quoted Mr. Tachelet as saying.
EUROFER said it was mostly satisfied with the system in the EU, “but the quotas are global and country-specific quotas should apply to major exporters to help stabilize the market”, Reuters reported.