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EU imports of steel products subject to safeguard measures slowed down in the first days of the second quarter. During the first eight days of April, when the new safeguard quotas became available for the quarter, EU customs cleared about 2.4 million tonnes of steel. This is more than 300,000 tonnes less than the level cleared in the first days of January 2022 and 200,000 tonnes less than the beginning of October 2021.

The slowdown in imports was widely expected, mainly due to the ban on imports from Russia and Belarus, as well as the limited possibilities for Ukrainian suppliers to ship material since the country was invaded by Russia.

The latest available data on Eurofer’s imports are for January 2022. That month, total EU imports of finished carbon and stainless steel products exceeded 3.5mt. In comparison, imports of all products in October 2021 reached a record high of over 4.7mt.

During the first days of April, Turkey used up most of the available quotas for the second quarter for long products, including rebar, wire rod, profiles and angles. For flat products, China ran out of available quotas for electrical steel and category 4b coated metal. Quotas of organic coated sheets from India for the entire quarter were also sold out in early April.