27 April 2026 – The EU Trade Commissioner has once again failed in his talks on U.S. steel tariffs and is returning empty-handed. Since January, a significant increase in German crude steel production has been observed. And nickel prices are rising again.
EU Trade Commissioner Makes No Progress on U.S. Steel Tariffs
The talks held by EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič with representatives of the United States government have, on one of the core issues – the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum – once again failed to move beyond diplomatic platitudes. Neither on the issue of “EU-U.S. Steel Ringfencing” nor in the talks on steel derivatives was the Trade Commissioner able to announce any substantial progress. If anything, changes to the current status quo can be expected only in the long term.
EU and U.S. Much Further Away from a Solution Than Šefčovič Wants to Admit?
The actual position of the U.S. government on a deal with the EU is likely made clear by the Procedures for Submissions by Certain Steel and Aluminum Producers Committing to New U.S. Steel or Aluminum Production To Obtain Tariff Adjustments Under Proclamation 10984, published last Thursday: tariff adjustments for Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum producers will only be available if they commit to building new production facilities in the United States. A circumstance Trade Commissioner Šefčovič does not address with a single word in his remarks.
EU Steel Tariffs an Obvious Damp Squib
The introduction of new EU tariffs on steel from July 2026, which were actually intended as a sweetener for the U.S. government, is therefore likely to miss its target completely and leave behind nothing but damage to the competitiveness of Europe’s steel-processing downstream industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises.
Significant Increase in Steel Production in Germany
According to figures from the German Steel Federation, Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl (WV Stahl), crude steel production in Germany rose significantly again in March 2026. Compared with the previous month of February, it increased by more than 18% and stood at around 3.3 million tonnes.
Crude Steel Production in Germany Up by 9%
This means that crude steel production in Germany in the first three months of 2026 was already 9% above the same period of the previous year and, extrapolated over the full year, could once again reach more than 37 million tonnes. A similar picture is also emerging in the production of hot-rolled steel products, which have already increased by around 8% compared with the same period of the previous year.
40 Million Threshold No Longer Reflects Technical Reality
The rehearsed crisis rhetoric of the German steel lobby nevertheless continues to uphold the legend of the magical threshold of 40 million tonnes of crude steel, supposedly the point at which German steel producers would finally be able to operate profitably. In doing so, however, WV Stahl omits the fact that Germany’s largest steel producer, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, permanently shut down a large blast furnace in October 2025. Perhaps this benchmark should urgently be corrected, since it no longer reflects the real technical status – you whining bunch.
Nickel Prices Continue to Rise
Nickel prices on the SHFE continued their upward trend on Monday and rose by more than 3%. Nickel is also continuing to move higher on the LME. After nickel had already risen to USD 18,800 per tonne on Friday, it was able to break through the USD 19,000 per tonne mark in early trading.
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