European steelmakers’ association Eurofer has welcomed the decision to confirm the definitive safeguard measures as per the proposal published by the European Commission (EC). Nevertheless, Eurofer has also raised some interesting points on a number of issues that will need to be monitored further, it says in a statement sent to Kallanish.

“While we welcome the permanent measures, we are nevertheless worried that the form of the final measures may undermine their intended safeguarding function,” says Eurofer director general Axel Eggert. “It is therefore vital that the Commission closely monitors EU steel demand development and adjusts the generous increase in the tariff-free import quota accordingly in July 2019, if necessary.” 

The association notes, for example, that the decision to increase tariff-free quotas by 5% each year until 2021 has been taken “… despite the fact that steel demand is expected to increase by only 1% in 2019 in the EU.”

Another point of issue resides in the confirmation that developing countries with an import share of below 3% will continue to be excluded from the measures. Eurofer notes that the 3% mark is calculated from data gathered over 2015-2017, even if this has been exceeded in 2018. “This is, for instance, the case for Indonesia, whose share of the stainless hot rolled flat steel product segment reached 9.5% in 2018. It is essential that such countries lose their exemption in upcoming revisions,” Eurofer notes.

“So, while we reiterate our welcome for the final measures, and the overwhelming backing they have received from member states, we caution that steel demand must be monitored closely in the coming periods if this mechanism is to prove effective in the long run,” Eggert concludes.