EU imposes new tariffs on steel imported from Russia and China
Russian exporters of cold-rolled steel products will have to pay a 26.2% fee to the European Union (EU) countries. The EU authorities imposed these anti-dumping duties for six months. For Severstal, the largest steel company in Russia, and for Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK), the third largest steel company in Russia, the fee will be slightly less.
The authorities of the EU have also imposed these provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled steel from China for six months. The decision was published in the EU's official journal on the 12th of February. The fees for the products of different manufacturers were set at different levels.
The lowest fee is 19.8% for MMK products. The cold-rolled steel from Severstal is taxed at 25.4%. The same products of Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine (NLMK) and all other manufacturers has a fee of 26.2 %. For the Chinese companies, these fees range from 13.8% to 16%.
According to Eurostat, the share of Russian manufacturers in the EU cold-rolled steel market was 10.1% in 2014. During the year, Russian companies supplied 724 758 tons of cold-rolled steel at an average price of 499 euros per ton. Statistics indicate that over three years (from 2011 to 2014), shares of Russian steel on the EU market increased by 1.7 times from 5.9% to 10.1%. The supply for steel increased 0.5 times from 466,000 tones to 727,700 tons. The average price of steel decreased by 21% from 630 euros to 499 euros per ton.
The representatives of these affected companies explained that the introduction of these fees will reduce the competition in the European market and may be a reason to increase the prices.
“We insist that the decision taken by the EU is a mistake. Russia has ignored all arguments. The company will continue to insist on objective consideration to correct this mistake,” a representative of NLMK reported to Interfax. At the same time, changing the game’s rules will help rental companies, such as NLMK Europe, which are currently underutilized.
A representative of Severstal, in conversation with the TASS Russian news agency, has said that this decision of the EU is a “direct violation” of the World Trade Organization rules, and has promised that the company will challenge the discriminatory actions.