Posted on 04 Jul 2024
Egypt, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan have each exceeded their 15% EU hot rolled coil safeguard quota cap for the third quarter, as expected, immediately after the opening of the new quota term. India has meanwhile exhausted over two thirds of its HRC quota.
Egypt, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan have each had their allowance capped at 141,850 tonnes for Q3, after the European Commission introduced a hotly contested amendment to the Category 1 “other country” quota, alongside extending safeguard measures to mid-2026 (see Kallanish passim).
According to EU TARIC data, as of 2 July, Egypt has 176,626t awaiting allocation for customs clearance, while Vietnam has 208,880t, Japan 209,403t and Taiwan 228,520t. Tonnages exceeding the quota will need to pay duty to enter the EU market or be subject to costly storage until the following quota period.
Based on feedback from buyers interviewed by Kallanish, the average duty to be paid will amount to approximately 8%.
Indian HRC, meanwhile, has 209,807t awaiting allocation out of a total quota of 301,704t. Because Indian mills were largely out of the export market in the second quarter due to maintenance, the remaining quota may not get filled quickly.
South Korea, which almost exhausted its Q2 EU HRC quota, has only 1,386t awaiting allocation so far in Q3.
On Category 16 – wire rod, whose other country quota has also been capped at 15% per origin, in other words, at 18,413t, Algeria already has 27,702t awaiting allocation. Egypt has 7,858t awaiting allocation, South Korea 10,745t and Indonesia 14,965t.
Various speakers at Kallanish Europe Steel Markets 2024 in Milan last month lamented the lack of notice given by the European Commission that it plans to implement the 15% cap. The other country HRC quota had been exhausted within days for consecutive quotas, and several buyers had already ordered material from the impacted origins before the Commission notice was published in late May.
Source:Kallanish
