EU trade defense measures do not sufficiently cover the long steel market – Beltrame

European trade defense measures do not sufficiently cover the long steel market, unlike the flat steel market. This was stated by Carlo Beltrame, CEO of Beltrame Group – Donalam SRL, during the Kallanish Europe Steel Markets conference, according to EUROMETAL.

Commenting on the latest revision of the EU tariff quota, Beltrame emphasized that there is varying interest in the implementation of protective measures for flat and long products. In particular, priority is given to flat products.

He also stressed that long products produced by electric arc furnaces are not given due recognition in regulatory policy.

“We are Class B producers. We are not taken into account, even though we have already decarbonized the production process,” added the CEO of Beltrame Group – Donalam SRL.

He cited uncompetitive energy costs in some EU countries as another problem.

“It is unclear how producers from other regions can compete with the energy prices in France and Spain,” Beltrame said.

At the same time, GMK Center CEO Stanislav Zinchenko pointed out that the new cross-border carbon adjustment mechanism (CBAM) creates an opportunity for European producers to fill the niche left by the displacement of imported blast furnace products.

“The question is who will replace these volumes — Turkey, the MENA region, or Italian producers? CBAM creates certain opportunities for replacing imports, but who will support this replacement? This is a very difficult period for the European steel industry,” Stanislav Zinchenko said.

It should be recalled that in 2024, the EU increased imports of long metal products from third countries by 3% compared to 2023, to 7.19 million tons. About 58% of supplies were provided by Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam, India, South Korea, and China.