Dear
All Steels Trading Customers,
Further
announcements were made at the end of last week with regard to safeguard
measures to be wisely applied in retaliation to the US Section 232
implementation.
As
All Steels Trading we always try to keep our customers fully informed on any
significant changes in the marketplace, which will automatically affect steel
prices, and the impact of safeguards is likely to be the most dramatic
overnight change when the official implementation is announced.
Through
our own rolling mills’ trade association links with Eurofer, who act as the
interface for steel manufacturers in Europe with the European Commission, All
Steels Trading learnt on Friday evening that safeguard duties are highly likely
to kick in on steel imported from all non-EU countries as from the 17th July
2018 on a quota basis. However, because it will be a low quota level and
backdated to the 1st January 2018, and imports into the EU have been high this
year to date, All Steels Trading believes that the duties will still apply very
quickly.
Statement
from our own rolling mills’ trade association on Friday night read as follows:
EU Member States Vote to
Introduce Safeguard Measures - EU
member states meeting in Brussels yesterday voted to introduce provisional
safeguard measures in response to the US steel tariffs. These measures
(expected to be in place by 17th July) are intended to guard against
surges in steel imports resulting from trade diverted away from the US, are
urgently needed as trade data shows significant increases in imports for
certain products, such as heavy sections and rebar, already this year. This
comes on top of the record imports highs seen in 2017. The measures will take
the form of tariff rate quotas, with volumes up to the 2015-17 average for each
product permitted to enter into the EU tariff free, with only those above the
permitted level subject to a 25% tariff. The steel industry had strongly pushed
for quotas to be set at national levels to prevent front-loading and
stockpiling, but at least for provisional measures the quotas will be set at a
global level. The steel sector will continue to push for a more nuanced
approach for definitive measures which will need to be decided upon within 200
days. We understand that 25 countries voted in favour of the measures,
including the UK, with just three abstaining.
In
light of this situation All Steels Trading will only provide quotations for the
coming week with 12 hours validity and we must warn you that the upward change
in price could be very significant, with increases of £100-150 per tonne being
likely across most of the products we offer. This is simply taking into
consideration likely replacement price changes from our suppliers, including
shipments that are about to sail from Turkey that could be subject to 25%
duties on arrival.
It
is clearly a time for recognising the value of your stock and alerting your own
sales people to the significance of the safeguard event that will most likely
unfold in less than 10 days’ time.
Best
regards
Laurence McDougall