Steel buyers in the European Union rushed to clear steel piling up at ports after import quotas for the first quarter opened on Jan. 1. Galvanized and rebar quotas in some countries were used up just four days after new quotas were opened.
Although not a tonne of steel products has cleared customs in the EU as of January 5, the "to-allocate" amount can indicate how much of the quota has been used up. Official EU customs data shows that all galvanized steel supply quotas for India and China have been used up. EU buyers requested 76,140t of Category 4A coated steel from India, 57% more than the country-specific quota of 48,559t. The quantity of galvanized steel (4A) that other countries applied to import within the quota exceeded the allowed quantity by 14%, reaching 491,516 t.
The number of customs clearance applications for Category 4B (automotive steel) coated steel from China (181,829 t) also exceeded the quota (116,083 t) by 57%.
In the HRC market, the situation is less severe. Turkey's quota was used 87%, Russia 40% and India 34%. It is worth noting that India's quota take-up has been slower than expected, given that market participants believe that large quantities of Indian HRC are in warehouses at ports.
Post time: Jan-11-2022