Yuriy Rudyuk of the Van Bael & Bellis law firm said that the European Commission is currently working on a plan to ban finished steel products rolled from Russian plate in non-EU countries.
Rudyuk, who took part as a speaker at the events of the steel distributors/traders association EUROMETAL at the International Steel Trade Day held in Antwerp last week, gave information about some important moves planned at the EU level.
The European Commission text states that from September 30 next year, the ban on imports and purchases will be extended to non-Russian steel products "processed in a third country, including iron and steel products originating in Russia".
"This will mean a big change," Rudyuk stressed, noting that many rolling mills outside the EU are already worried and are starting to seek funding elsewhere. He warned that a back-and-forth for available quotas could also have an opposite effect before the ban takes effect.
He said this ban is a new perspective for imports in Europe, but is already becoming increasingly common in the US.
This ban does not only cover the Russian or Belarusian slab. The EU is also currently investigating the processing operations in Turkey of hot rolled stainless steel slabs imported from Indonesia for possible antidumping duty circumvention practices. “The plate supplied from Indonesia to the EU may decrease, but at the same time, the stainless steel sheet from Turkey may increase,” one said.
Conference attendees noted that such diversions through rerolling constitute a business model of their own.
Comments
No comment yet.