Berlin demands halt to imports of Russian slabs into the EU

German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil called for closing the «loophole» in sanctions and strengthening the protection of European steelmakers

Germany is calling on the European Union to immediately stop imports of Russian semi-finished products, primarily steel slabs, which are not yet fully subject to restrictions, Eurometal reports.

On the eve of the steel summit on November 6, German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said that imports of such semi-finished products must be quickly and completely stopped, as they continue to put pressure on the EU market and undermine the competitiveness of German factories.

According to him, at a meeting with the industry, the German government will discuss lower energy prices through industrial tariffs and the priority use of European-produced steel in infrastructure and the automotive industry.

Berlin’s position was supported by the German Steel Federation (WV Stahl). Its CEO, Kerstin Maria Rippel, recalled that despite the EU’s twelfth package of sanctions, Russian companies can continue to supply large volumes of slabs to the European Union, which are then processed at European facilities. She called this completely incomprehensible against the backdrop of the import crisis in Europe and called for closing the loophole with sanctions or imposing effective duties.

In December 2023, the EU allowed the supply of Russian slabs under a phased reduction regime until September 2028 – up to a total of 10.9 million tons. For the period from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026, a quota of 2.998 million tons has been set, of which about 500,000 tons have already been contracted. According to the German side, this gives Russia the opportunity to continue to influence pricing in the EU.

According to S&P Global (Platts), on October 29, the price of slabs from the Black Sea remained at $420/t FOB, which keeps Russian material attractive to European processors.

In January-August 2025, the EU imported 3.59 million tons (-7.7% y/y) of steel raw materials of Russian origin. The cost of importing these products reached €1.48 billion (-20.9% y/y). The bulk of imports consisted of semi-finished products – 2.37 million tons (+10.8% y/y).