5 June 2025 – Prices for nickel, aluminium and other base metals remained stable today in Asia, with some slight gains. The EU steel lobby escalates with absurd demands in response to higher US steel tariffs.
Raw material prices move sideways with slight gains
Prices for nickel, aluminium and other base metals remained stable in Asia today, with some slight gains. Nickel on the LME improved by up to 1.0% shortly after trading began.
Spot market prices for hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, rebar and wire rod were also stable today for Chinese steel products. Galvanised steel saw the strongest gains, rising by around 0.9%.
EU steel lobby escalates with absurd demands in response to US tariffs
In response to the increase in US Section 232 tariffs from 25% to 50%, EUROFER, the lobby group representing European steel makers, has reacted with escalating demands for an immediate tightening of the European Union’s trade defence measures. It does not matter whether this would ultimately violate international law, WTO agreements or trade agreements.
100% of US steel imports now coming to Europe?
Just how ridiculous EUROFER’s proposal is becomes clear when you consider that the 27 million tonnes of steel that are now supposedly being diverted to the EU market include the EU’s own 3.8 million tonnes of steel in the flood of supposedly cheap foreign steel. 27 million tonnes of steel would also correspond to 100% of US steel imports.
Lobby conceals existing EU trade defence measures
EUROFER has also refrained from addressing existing EU trade defence measures against countries such as Taiwan, Brazil, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia and China. And, of course, it did not take into account the imports of 6 million tonnes of semi-finished products (steel slabs) into the United States per year, which are not subject to any market protection in Europe, for example, and of which EU steel makers themselves import approximately 7 million tonnes (almost 4 million tonnes of which come from Russia alone) per year, thereby actively circumventing their own market protection.
Steel flood narrative obviously fabricated
A steel flood on the European market is therefore not to be expected. But this shows once again the disreputable methods used by domestic steel makers to influence political decision-makers in Europe through their lobby mouthpiece.
EU steel makers in second place for US steel imports
EU steel makers rank third among the top four importers (Canada, Brazil, EU27, Mexico) in terms of exports to the United States. If Brazil’s semi-finished (steel slab) exports to the US are deducted, the EU even ranks second among the largest steel exporters. EU steel makers are therefore likely to have contributed significantly to this tariff increase.
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