7 January 2025 – Stainless steel manufacturers in Europe imported more raw materials and semi-finished products in 2024 than ever before. There are signs of a new import record for stainless steel slabs, and the increase in the much-maligned nickel pig iron can even be described as drastic. In addition, the Taiwanese Safeguard quotas for flat rolled stainless steel have already been significantly exceeded for the first quarter.
EU stainless steel manufacturers are increasingly focussing on imports
European stainless steel manufacturers are actually known for their demands for ever stricter and more questionable market protection measures for stainless steel products from non-EU countries. However, the fact that they themselves are among the largest importers of stainless steel should be clear from some figures from the statistics authority EUROSTAT.
Drastic increase in imports of nickel pig iron!
In 2024, imports of ferro-nickel (+42%), stainless steel scrap (+50%) and stainless steel slabs (+27%) increased dramatically compared to 2023. In the case of nickel pig iron, which is supposedly so CO2-intensive that it is condemned in many EU market protection measures and often used as one of the main arguments, imports even increased by almost 60,000% (sixty thousand) compared to 2023! In a comparison between 2024 and 2019, the increase in the aforementioned imports is even more significant.
Stainless steel slab imports reach record levels
Of particular interest, however, are the ever-increasing imports of stainless steel slabs. In 2024 alone, the figure was around 330,000 MT, the highest level since 2008.
EU absolutely dependent on stainless steel imports
This is likely to reinforce the findings of the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) from mid-2024: The EU has a problem with the production and availability of stainless steel and is therefore absolutely reliant on stainless steel imports.
Even EU manufacturers are reliant on massive imports to meet the Union’s needs – even in challenging years. This casts a dark shadow over the Commission’s decisions regarding various anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and anti-circumvention decisions in recent years, which urgently need to be clarified.
It also casts a questionable light on the allocation of free EU emission allowances, with which EU steel makers have collected more than 56 billion euros in hidden subsidies since 2005.
Stainless steel: Taiwanese EU Safeguard quotas overflow
The EU Safeguard quotas for the first quarter of 2025 for flat rolled stainless steel originating from Taiwan have already significantly overflowed at the beginning of January with approx. 67,000 MT.
This is not only likely to lead to high Safeguard duties for many, but could also cause further problems for supposed bargain offers (because they may have received a particularly clever offer?): Is the necessary documentation for imports from Taiwan, which has been required since the Indonesian punitive tariffs were extended to Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam, even available?
Latest news
- German steel production continues to rise in November
- Indonesia mulls slashing nickel mining quotas in 2025
- EU launches new safeguard investigation on raw materials
We at the Gerber Group have been trading in stainless steel worldwide for over 20 years. We are your experts when it comes to purchasing, import, logistics and services. Information is a vital part of this. Because only then can you and we make the right decisions. Do you have any questions? Contact us now.
Disclaimer: Many things here represent our opinion. Others are information from the Internet. We can therefore never claim to be correct or complete. And never base a business decision solely on the news you receive from us.
