24 July 2025 – The EU Commission started monitoring exports of scrap (steel, aluminum, copper) from Europe yesterday. And has already made a judgment on scrap exports without a formal investigation! Asian stainless steel futures and spot market prices rise. US aluminum premiums rise again. EU court ruling: Von der Leyen has broken rules on job allocation.
Asian stainless steel futures and spot market prices rise
Since the beginning of July 2025, stainless steel futures on the Asian SHFE have steadily improved and today, Thursday, they left trading with another slight gain. Stainless steel futures have thus improved by more than 2.1% since 2 July 2025.
A similar trend can be observed in the sports market prices for stainless steel (300 series) in China, which have risen by more than 1.8% in the same period. Improved market sentiment and higher demand in some regions have supported the rise in stainless steel prices. The rise in nickel prices on the LME (+1.5%) and SHFE (+1.6%) in July is likely to have supported this trend.
US aluminum premiums continue to rise
Aluminum Premiums Duty paid US Midwest recorded another increase of around 1.0% in the past few days, reaching a new record high. Since the beginning of the year, US aluminum premiums have almost tripled and most recently stood at around USD 0.67/lb.
LME aluminum 3-month prices stood at 2647 USD/MT at the close of trading yesterday, Wednesday.
EU court rules: Von der Leyen has broken rules on staff appointments
Things are not going particularly well for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the moment. Her trade commissioner has not managed to negotiate a solid deal in the dispute over tariffs with the US government, nor has she managed to settle the allegations in the coronavirus vaccine scandal. Her authoritarian and centralistic management style is also repeatedly criticized.
Appointment to top position in the EU Commission unlawful
Now the EU Commission President has suffered another defeat in court. The two highest EU courts, the General Court of the EU, ruled yesterday that the appointment of top positions in the Commission was not in accordance with the law. It annulled the Commission’s decision to appoint the Principal Legal Adviser of the Commission Legal Service Trade Policy and World Trade Organization Team. The court’s reasoning: Ms. von der Leyen had delegated tasks to her closest colleagues that she should not have passed on to them.
EU NGO scandal: embezzlement charges against the Commission
According to recent media reports, the Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE) has filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor’s office in Munich (Germany) against former EU Commissioners Frans Timmermans (64, Commissioner for Climate Action) and Virginijus Sinkevičius (34, Commissioner for the Environment).
The allegation: up to 7 billion euros are said to have been paid to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) through allegedly non-transparent and possibly illegal allocation of funds. The money was then allegedly used to influence the European Parliament and the design of the EU Green Deal, among other things.
EU steel scrap exports are now officially monitored
And while we’re on the subject of the Commission’s bigotry: The Commission announced yesterday that it has activated the European customs monitoring system to monitor the import and export of metal waste and scrap. In particular, the system covers iron and steel scrap, aluminum and copper.
Commission has already ruled on scrap leakage
The Commission’s justification for this measure:
“The EU is experiencing a decline in metal scrap availability for recycling, also because of “scrap leakage” to third countries. The introduction of a 50% tariff by the United States on a wide range of steel and aluminum products (excluding scrap) may further worsen this issue as rising global prices of primary materials increase the incentive to export scrap abroad.”
– Source: European Commission, 23 July 2025
The Commission has thus already established in advance and without a formal investigation that there is alleged “scrap leakage” out of the EU and that the increase in US Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum could further encourage the outflow of scrap to other EU countries.
Export restrictions particularly affect SMEs
Thorsten Gerber, CEO of the Gerber Group, said today: “This is yet another frightening example of how the Commission wants to interfere in free market competition by making unproven claims and spreading falsehoods by lobbyists.”
The fact that export restrictions on scrap metal could reduce the competitiveness of small and medium-sized recycling companies in Europe in particular, forcing them out of the market and resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, is something that the Commission, which is without exception fixated on large corporations and heavily influenced by their lobbyists, repeatedly accepts, or perhaps even wants.
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